Oh the Places You'll Go...
by Malena
Summary: ALTERNATE UNIVERSE!!! What would have happened if Sirius hadn't gone looking for Peter that fateful Halloween night. What if they hadn't caught Sirius and charged him with the betrayal of his two best friends… What if they had never found Harry…
1. That Halloween Night

A.N. What would have happened if Sirius hadn't gone looking for Peter that fateful Halloween night. What if they hadn't caught Sirius and charged him with the betrayal of his two best friends… What if they had never found Harry…

It's been 15 years since that terrible Halloween, and no one knows whatever became of Sirius Black and young Harry Potter. Some say that Sirius went mad, and murdered the child after the downfall of his master, Lord Voldemort. Others say they're still out there. Remus doesn't know who to believe, or what to make of the letters that he has been receiving… 

That is the full summary, and I hope that you enjoy this *cackles * I know, I know, I said that I probably wouldn't do two stories at once, but I couldn't help myself. I absolutely love this idea, and I hope that my version of it is to your enjoyment! Please Review!  
Malena

Sirius Black drove through the skies of England on his enchanted motorbike, looking at the small housed underneath him. It was Halloween, and several loud parties could be heard even from his perch above the world. It had been a week since Lily, James, and little Harry Potter had been placed under the Fidelius Charm. Almost everyone thought that Sirius himself was the Secret Keeper, but no, he had come up with a brilliant plan. 

It all started a week before…

__

He was at the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow, bouncing Harry on his knee. The child was making happy gurgling noises with each bounce, and smiling a smile that seemed to wide for his little face. A small mop of black hair sat on his head, and his emerald eyes gleamed as he grinned up at his godfather. But he wasn't there to just play with his godson. He was there because they needed to cast a protection spell called the Fidelius Charm. 

It was an advanced curse, used when one wanted to go into hiding from someone else. And that's what Lily and James needed to do. The Dark Lord Voldemort was getting stronger and stronger, and he posed a certain threat over the Potters. He had already attempted to kill them once. The spell concentrated everything on one person, the Secret Keeper, who was supposed to be Sirius. But Sirius had a different plan. 

"Sirius you don't know what you're saying!" James exclaimed, pounding one of his fists on the kitchen table. Lily had taken Harry and was looking nervously between her husband and friend. 

"James you can't deny that you haven't heard what Dumbledore has been saying! There is a spy that is extremely close to you, and has been passing Voldemort information for months! Possibly years-"

"But Remus_? How could you accuse Remus! I have known him since our first day at Hogwarts and there is no way that-"_

"Who else could it be?" 

"Sirius, I don't know but it can't be Remus-"

"But what if it is? Remus knows that I'm going to be your Secret Keeper. I was there when you told him. We all were. If Remus really is a spy, then he could use me to get to you. Do you want Harry to be hurt or possibly killed!" Sirius pointed at his godson who was utterly uninterested in what they were saying, and was more involved in playing with his mother's long, red hair. 

"Even so, Sirius," Lily said, pulling her hair out of her son's grasp. "What can we do?"

"You can switch Secret Keepers."

"To who!" James exclaimed. "You said yourself that Remus might be the spy."  
"Peter," Sirius said simply. 

"Peter_? Peter can hardly stand on his own, how do you expect him to do this? What would Dumbledore think!"_

"Dumbledore doesn't has to know," Sirius sighed. "You're going to be performing the curse yourselves, so it can be just between us. No one would suspect Peter. No offense to him, but he's weak and innocent, but he's a wonderful friend and he would never think of betraying us. He didn't betray us at Hogwarts and he won't betray us now."

"Sirius, school boy pranks and a life and death situation are two totally different things."

"Everyone thinks that I'm the Secret Keeper. No one will look at Peter twice."

James couldn't think of anything to say and just mouthed wordlessly at his friend. 

"James if you don't do this for me, do this for your family. I don't want any of you to be hurt."

James sighed weakly and finally nodded, running a hand through his messy hair. Harry gurgled and clapped happily, making spit bubbles. 

"All right, but we'll have to ask Peter first. And you still have to go into hiding."

"Of course. Let's go ask him right now."

And so it had been done. Peter had been made Secret Keeper, although the world thought that Sirius was. And now, Sirius was going to go check on Peter in his hiding place. But… maybe he should go check on Lily and James first… They were on the way, after all…

Sirius turned his bike slightly to the left and drove off in the direction of Godric's Hollow. He drove over the houses, counting them until he spotted Lily and James' house in a mass of trees. 

He dove down until he came to a smooth landing in their driveway. He stopped the engine and took off his helmet, shaking his long black hair out. He looked up at the house.

_Something's_ _wrong_. That thought hit him immediately. It was too quiet, for their house was usually filled with laughter or crying (whichever mood Harry was in at the time). Sirius frowned at the house and slowly walked up the rest of the long driveway. And then he heard it, a piercing scream from one of the upstairs rooms!

_Lily_…

Then silence, before a loud, wailing cry echoed out of the room. 

_Harry_-

__

VVVVVVVVSSSSHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

Suddenly there was a deafening sound coming from inside. It sounded like engines of those giant planes, or whatever Muggles flew in. But plane engines didn't have horrible screams in them, and they didn't make the air freezing cold, like they were sucking the life out of you. There was a giant flash of green light, and another loud explosion, before everything went black…

Someone was screaming again. It was a pitiful cry for help. 

"MAAA! MAAAAA!"

"Harry…" Sirius groaned. His head was pounding, and he didn't even notice that he had fallen to the ground. He raised his head slightly, and saw that the house had been reduced to a pile of broken rubble, with a few familiar items sticking through. 

"Harry!" Sirius yelled a bit louder, getting to his feet quickly. "Lily! James!"   
"SIIIIIIIIII!" Harry's voice shrieked. "SSSIIII!"

"I'm coming Harry," Sirius whispered, more to himself than to his godson. He jumped into the ruins and started searching for Harry.   
"SIIII!" The cries of the one year old was getting louder and louder as he ran through the rubble. "MAAAA!" Sirius followed his godson's voice, digging through the mass of burnt wood and building materials until he saw-

"Harry!" Sirius sighed in relief as he scooped his godson into his arms, pulling him from halfway beneath a board that looked to be from his crib. He had a gash on his forehead, with blood trickling from it, down the side of Harry's face. Sirius wiped away some of the blood on his cloak, and then cradled Harry close, rocking him and trying to stop the boy's desperate wails. "Shhh… Shhh… it's going to be all right. Don't worry Harry… don't wor…"

Sirius stopped rocking and stared at the rubble. There was a hand sticking out from beneath it. Lily's hand. It was burnt slightly, and it wasn't moving, her wedding ring still on her finger.   
Sirius dived down and grabbed his friend's cold and immobile hand. He pulled the board off her body, and looked down at his friend. Her bright green eyes were open, but held none of the warmth that usually filled them. Her face was twisted in a look of horror and fear. 

Harry was reaching for his mother, saying, "Maaa… maaa…."

"Mama's gone now," Sirius whispered to his godson, holding him tightly. He could feel the tears leaking from his eyes, but he didn't care. It was his godson that mattered now. It was his godson that needed him the most. 

Sirius searched for a short while, until he found Harry's father's body. James' body was covered in small scratches, and his wand was clutched in his hand. He had a determined, brave look on his face. Sirius' frame was wracked with sobs as he looked at his friend, who he had known since childhood. He was gone… It was all gone…

"How did Voldemort get them?" Sirius asked himself. "How could he have gotten Peter…"

Suddenly realization hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. 

"Peter you bastard, how could you!" Sirius yelled into the night. "How could you kill Lily and James! How could you!"

Harry was crying again, looking up at his godfather. Sirius hugged him and started humming lightly, trying to coax the infant to calm down. Sirius walked away from the rubble, unaware of his torn and dirty robes. He managed to find his motorbike at the edge of the ruins.   
He put Harry in his cloak, started the engine on his bike, and flew off into the night back to his house. 

"Does anyone know what happened?" The Auror asked some of the neighbors. They were walking among the piles of wood and brick that used to be the Potters' house. The two bodies of Lily and James Potter were already on their way to the morgue. 

"All I 'eared was a grea' explosion," said an elderly woman. "Then a baby cryin', but that's all. Such a pity though… Potters were always so kind…"

"You say that you heard a baby crying?" The Auror asked. "Do you think that it was their son?"

"Yeah… yeah it could've been."

"Stevenson! Stevenson! Come get a look at this!" 

Another Auror was calling him over. The Auror, who's name was Harp, was holding up a large piece of wood.   
"What is it-oh my…" 

Beneath the wood was another body but this one was totally burnt and shriveled up. 

"Is that… You-Know-Who?"

"I-I think it might be."

While several other Aurors were brought over to investigate the newfound body, two men watched. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. 

"I can't believe Sirius actually did it," Remus said quietly, his eyes still red from the crying he did earlier. "He's known James since they were little kids… they were the best of friends. He was an Auror with James. Why did he hand them to Voldemort? I mean… I sort of suspected that he was a spy… but I didn't think he would really do it."

"I know what you mean," Peter said, blowing his nose. "Who would've thought… I started to suspect something when Sirius didn't show up at my hiding place, like he said he was going to. But Sirius adored everyone in that family. He was jumping with glee when he became godfather to Harry. Why would he kill them?"

"Evil can infect even the warmest of hearts, sometimes," said a new voice. It was Albus Dumbledore. He looked grimly at the ruins, and said, "From what I've heard, it appears that little Harry Potter's body is not among the rubble."

Remus and Peter both looked up at their former headmaster.

"N-not… there? That's impossible," Peter said. 

"But they have found a body that appears to be Lord Voldemort's." 

Remus' eyes got wide and Peter paled visibly. 

"You-Know-Who?" Peter spat out, trembling slightly. "Does that mean that he's… gone?"

"It appears so…"

"But-but how?" Remus asked. 

"Harry," Dumbledore said simply. 

"But, headmaster, how could someone so little do _that_?" 

"I don't know, Remus. I don't think we ever will."

"But where's Harry?" 

"Sir," said a young Auror's voice. "What do you make of this?" He held up a helmet. 

"That's Sirius' helmet," Remus whispered.   
"He was here…" Peter sighed.

"Probably helping Voldemort get the job done," Remus snarled. "Is the bike there?" 

"No, but there are tire marks on the drive." 

"We need to find him. He could hurt others," Dumbledore said swiftly. "Any sign of little Harry Potter?"

"No sir. No body, no nothing."

"Sirius has him. I'd bet my life on it," Remus said urgently. "What if he hurts him! Sirius could-"

"We'll get some people over to his house, to see what's going on."

"I'll go," Remus said. "I'll go now."

* * *

Sirius knew that they were going to come after him. He knew that they were going to take Harry away from him, the one thing that was still dear in his life. Sirius had packed a few things that he needed before he was supposed to go into hiding, and he grabbed that duffel bag. He shrunk it, and shrunk a few other things before he grabbed Harry, who was sitting on the couch munching on his own fingers. Before he reached the door, he stopped and scribbled out a note on a piece of paper. 

__

Remus, 

I've got Harry with me. He's perfectly fine, just a bit shaken up. He has a cut on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. I expect that he got it tonight either before or while the house blew up.

Remus, you have to believe that I did not do this to Lily and James. Just last week I asked them to change Secret Keepers to Peter. He was the Secret Keeper. Not I. He was the one who betrayed Lily and James. He's probably been passing information to Voldemort for a while now. Now look what he's done to Lily and James. If you can somehow prove this to the Ministry, I will come out of hiding with Harry, unharmed. I might be in touch soon. Harry says hi.

Padfoot

Sirius tied the letter to his owl's leg, gave her one last stroke and told her not to come looking for him when she finished giving the letter to Remus. 

"Stay with Remus, he'll take care of you."

Then the owl flew out the into the night sky… Sirius and Harry bolted out the door and disappeared with a _pop_. 

Monti, Sirius' owl, glided through the chilly night air. She knew where Remus' house was, and was almost there when-

There was a flash of green light and a _whooshing_ sound as the owl fell from the air and landed in a broken heap on the Muggle road. A short, plump figure walked from the trees and over to where the dead creature had landed. One pudgy hand took the letter from the owl's leg and read it by the light of his wand. And then Peter Pettigrew laughed wickedly and tore the letter into a thousand pieces. 


	2. Hide and Seek

A.N. Beware! There are time skips in this chapter! 

Remus banged loudly on the door to Sirius' house. The windows were dark and not one sound came from inside. Sirius' bike was still parked in the driveway, a bit dusty and dirty. 

"Sirius! Open this door!" Remus bellowed.

Suddenly there were two _pops_ beside Remus, and two Aurors appeared. 

"Mr. Lupin, we were ordered to come here to make sure you weren't injured. Black could be highly dangerous, and we don't want anyone else to get injured or killed."

Remus nodded and took out his wand, not bothering to knock again. 

"_Alohamora_!" With a click the lock turned and Remus pushed the door open. He muttered something under his breath and the lights turned on. No one seemed to be there. 

"Mr. Lupin, we're going to go check all the rooms to make sure he isn't hiding. You stay here and don't move!" They both ran up the stairs and left Remus all alone. 

The werewolf looked around the house that he had been to so many times before, usually when Sirius invited him and the Potters and Peter over for dinner. The fireplace was cold, so that meant he didn't leave by Floo Powder, and his broom and bike were still there, proving that he didn't escape using them. Remus looked around the living room, and saw something that caught his eye. A sock. Not a sock that could fit Sirius, but a baby sock. Harry's. 

"Mr… er… I think I found something!" Remus yelled, picking up the tiny article of clothing. 

The two Aurors came downstairs and he held up the sock. 

"Well then that probably shows that Black does have the Potter child. Or did," said one of the Aurors, taking the sock between two fingers, as if it would bite him. 

"His broom's still here," Remus said. "And he didn't leave by Floo Powder."

"That probably means that he escaped by Apparation. Or on foot," said the other Auror. He ran a hand through his blond hair and sighed, "Several rooms upstairs were emptied. Lots of clothes are missing, and most personal items that he might have had. You can go take a look if you wish."

"Tell us if you find anything abnormal!" 

Remus walked slowly up the stairs that lead to the upper part of Sirius' house. Sirius' room looked like a tornado had gone through it. The bed was missing, and the closet was open with clothes pouring out of it, and the drawers of his dresser had clothes spilling out too. Remus walked over to a small bookcase that sat beside where Sirius' bed should have been. Remus reached down and pulled the bookcase away from the wall. There was a safe fixed into the wall there. Remus knew the combination and opened it. It was empty.

Remus knew that the safe was where Sirius had kept a large stash of money, both Muggle (from many different countries) and Wizard. '_You can never be to prepared…_' Remus slammed the safe door shut and shoved the bookcase back into its place. Before Remus left, he also noticed that the book that held all of Sirius' addresses and acquaintances' names was missing. That book was also the book that held the names of all his former girlfriends, which he had had a lot of. 

Next Remus went over to the guestroom. Everything was pretty normal in here. Sirius rarely went in there, for the only guest he ever had was Remus or maybe Lily and James. 

Then Remus went into the bathroom. The extra package of diapers that Sirius kept there in case Harry visited was missing, along with a few other things like brushes and shampoo. 

Remus walked back downstairs and told the Aurors about the book and the safe. Then he left, unable to stay in his former best friend's house any longer.

~*~

Sirius appeared somewhere in France, with Harry still held tightly in his arms, and his shrunken things in his pocket. It was raining, and Sirius wrapped his cloak around Harry and himself, keeping them both from getting wet. He would have to change clothes soon, so he wouldn't be conspicuous. 

'Remus, hurry up and get Peter sent to jail, so I don't have to continue this,' Sirius thought. A Muggle cab came down the street, and Sirius waved one of his hands to get the driver's attention. The driver stopped and Sirius climbed into the taxi. 

As an Auror he had learned several other languages, one of them French, so he quickly asked the driver to take him to the nearest hotel or motel. Harry had fallen asleep in his arms, holding onto Sirius' shirt with one little hand. 

Ten minutes later they stopped in front of a small little motel that was above a pub. Sirius, with his head covered in his cloak, managed to get a room from the woman (who spoke English) who was running the pub while using the name Orville Warkler. 

Sirius walked into the room and put Harry down on the dumpy little bed, letting him rest. Sirius sat down in one of the chairs beside his godson's bed and didn't even feel himself slip into slumber…

Sirius awoke at two in the morning to the sound of Harry crying. Sirius jumped out of his chair and looked over to where the infant lay on the bed. Harry was on his hands and knees, wailing. "Shhh…shh…" Sirius said, picking up his godson and pacing around the room. "What's the matter Harry? What's the matter?"

Harry answered in another long wail. 

"Shhh…shh… What's wrong? Do you need to be changed?"

Sirius looked in Harry's diaper, but that wasn't the problem.

"What's wrong Harry? What's wrong?" 

The boy of barely 15 months wriggled in Sirius' arms, so he sat him on the counter. 

"Do you need something to eat? Is that it?"   
Sirius walked over to the kitchen, where a small bowl of fruit sat on the counter. He picked up a banana and took of the peel. He broke off a piece and held it up for Harry to eat. Harry shook his head and pushed it away. Sirius was not ready for this. He was barely 22 years old and he was taking care of a baby, which he was totally unprepared to do. He was supposed to be dating and having fun with his friends! Not running from the Ministry with an infant. He hadn't even had a lot of time to grieve about his two friends. Harry didn't even seem to know what was going on. 

"Come on Harry, tell Sirius what's wrong," Sirius said. Sirius picked up another fruit, this time an orange, and held it for Harry to see. Harry pushed the orange out of Sirius' hand, and it rolled away on the floor. 

"What do you want?" Sirius asked. Harry started crying again. 

It never seemed this hard when Lily and James were there! But Lily and James weren't there anymore. Now it was Sirius' problem…

"What is it Harry?"

"Cheeri."

"Cheeri? You want a cherry?" 

"CHEERI!" 

"Okay, okay, here's a cherry," Sirius took out the stem and grabbed a knife from one of the drawers, cutting the cherry in half. "Mmm… Yummy cherry."

"CHEERI!" Harry pushed the cherry away and started crying again. 

Suddenly there was a loud pounding on the door. Then there was a sound of keys rattling and the door opened, the landlady marching in. 

"Stop that racket!" She shrieked. "You're disturbing the peace!" 

"Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with him!" 

"CHEERI!" 

"That's it! Get out of my motel!"

"What?! It's three in the morning!" 

"OUT! OUT!"

Sirius reluctantly grabbed his things, took Harry and walked back out into the night. Harry was still wailing, "CHEERI!" and Sirius didn't have any idea what to do next. It was obvious that Harry needed _something_, he just didn't know what. And he was sure that the whole wizarding world was after his skin by now. He didn't know if he should even attempt to do what he thought would be best, which was to go to America. Sirius knew that Apparating everywhere was risky business, but he couldn't use Floo Powder for someone was bound to see him. 

'If only I had brought my bike or broom…' Sirius thought gloomily. 'It would make everything so much easier.' Sirius sighed, bounced Harry a few times, trying to stop his crying, and Disapparated. 

* * *

Most people were celebrating at Hogwarts that night. There had been a special feast just for the occasion. However, several of the teachers were not joining in on the celebration. Professor Minerva McGonnogal spent much of the time blowing her nose in her napkin, while Professor Dumbledore was gone, tending to other business. Rubeus Hagrid, an extremely large man who worked as the Keeper of the keys and grounds, kept crying. Not everyone knew everything that happened. Not everyone knew that several of the teachers had known the Potters, or in Hagrid's case, met their son. Not everyone knew that many of the teachers knew Sirius Black, who had supposedly sent his best friends to their doom, and stolen baby Harry. 

No one could believe Sirius actually did it. Not that funny, eccentric young man who could make anyone laugh, and was a real lady's man who then became an Auror. Sirius had adored the Potters. It just didn't make sense. But both Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, the only two survivors from the Marauders, said that Sirius was the Secret Keeper for the Potters. Even Dumbledore claimed that James told him that before he met his end. 

And now Sirius was gone. Gone into the dark with his godson, probably to kill him or something like that. No one could believe it. No one wanted to. 

Sirius and Harry walked through the isles of the Muggle supermarket they had arrived in. They were now in Spain, for Sirius felt it would be safe if they kept moving every few hours. Harry was staring avidly at the colorful boxes on the shelves. Sirius had finally gotten Harry to calm down by sticking a pacifier that he found in his cloak, into Harry's mouth. At least it got him to be quiet. Now they were looking for _something_ to eat. They turned down the cereal isle and Harry started squirming in Sirius' arms, reaching at the shelves. 

"What is it Harry?" Sirius asked, picking his godson out of the shopping cart. "Do you see something!" 

Sirius took the pacifier out of Harry's mouth, and Harry started squealing, "CHEERI! CHEERI!"

Sirius looked up at the shelf. Cheerios. Lily had always kept a box in the house, saying it was her comfort food. Apparently she had taught Harry the same thing. 

"CHEERI!" 

Sirius picked the box off the shelf and handed it to Harry, who attempted to open it. After a few seconds the box was open and Harry was munching happily on small handfuls of cereal, while Sirius put some extra boxes into the cart. They went down a few more isles, while Sirius stocked up on food that was easy to make, like noodles, and canned soups. Sirius grabbed some fruits, even though Harry didn't seem to like them much. And last but not least, blond hair dye. 

Sirius was rather reluctant about changing his hair color, especially to blond. He could easily change his hair color by magic, but that would wear off after 12 hours and that could cause problems. Besides, he could always dye his hair back to black. 

Sirius walked up to the checkout counter and loaded the items onto the conveyor belt. He had to pry the Cheerio box from Harry's hands so the clerk could ring it up. It was 5 a.m. and the clerk was a middle aged Muggle woman who cooed at Harry in Spanish, before Sirius could give her money. Sirius put a quick Memory charm on her while no one else was looking (just in case) and the two of them left. 

Sirius walked down one of the streets, and the sun was just rising over the horizon. Sirius didn't know where to go next. Harry would eventually have to go someplace during the day, so Sirius would have to come up with a disguise for his godson. He had enough money with him to last for a few weeks, but then he would have to get a Muggle job. And the next question was where would he get one? Where would they live? Europe was out of the question, since all the wizards on the continent would be looking for the two of them. 

Pretty soon the Muggle authorities would be alerted as well. Fudge was going to do everything he could to get him and take Harry away from him. 

"Dow!" Harry exclaimed. Sirius looked at his godson and repeated, "Dow?"

"DOW!" Harry pointed at the ground. 

"Down?"  
"DOW!"  
Sirius put Harry on his feet, where he stood unsteadily for a moment and started walking away. 

"Hey! Wait up!" Sirius walked quickly after his godson, bending over and grabbing his godson's hand. Harry stopped and commanded, "Uf!"

"Uf? Up?"

"UF!" 

Sirius scooped Harry up into the air. 

"Dow!" 

Down.

"UF!"

Up. 

"Dow!" 

Sirius sighed and just continued walking his godson squirming and yelling, "DOW! DOW!"

~*~

Remus sighed and walked down the street. He was still in shock, two weeks after Lily and James had died. Sirius had betrayed Lily and James and stolen Harry, and had yet to be caught. Voldemort was gone, but Dumbledore had confided in Remus that it might not be forever. So that might mean that Sirius could help Voldemort get back to full strength. And what would become of Harry, the happy child of a strong wizard and witch, who was supposed to go to the finest Wizarding school in the land? Would he be used as one of Voldemort's evil minions? Remus didn't want to know what Sirius could do to the little child. 

Remus looked up at the house that he had stopped in front of. Number 4, Privet Drive. It was perfectly normal looking. Perhaps a little too normal. Remus walked up to the door and rang the bell. 

There was some loud screaming coming from inside, mainly, "CANDY! CANDY!" That must be the Dursley's son. Lily had mentioned him a few times, but she had only found out about it because of a childhood friend. Petunia Dursley, Lily's sister, hadn't talked to her for years. 

A moment later the door opened, and a large, beefy man was standing there. He looked at Remus through his beady little eyes and barked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Remus Lupin, and I'm here to speak to Mrs. Petunia Dursley."

"I'm Vernon Dursley, her husband. Now what do you want?"

"I have some bad news about her sister and brother in law."

Vernon's eyes got wide and he snapped, spit flying everywhere. "She doesn't have a sister!"

Then he slammed the door in Remus' face. He stood there, stunned for a moment, and thought about leaving, before the door opened again, this time Petunia standing there. 

"What about my sister?" She snapped. 

"I'm sorry, your sister is dead. Along with her husband."

Petunia took it… well. Her face remained as sour as ever, "How?"

"Well, it's a rather long and complicated story-"

"I don't have the time. What happened to that little brat of theirs?"

Remus' frowned, "Harry was kidnapped by his godfather, who was supposed to be playing an important part in their protection. We are searching for the two of them right now."

Petunia rolled her eyes and said, "So why are you telling me this? I don't care about my-"

"CANDY!"  
"One minute Dudley-kins!" She yelled in a singsong voice. She turned back to Remus. 

"Well, the reason we told you this is because you are Harry's last living relatives. When we do find your nephew you will be his legal guardians." 

Petunia got a disgusted look on her face, turned, and slammed the door. 

"But I can see how this could be a problem for you," Remus said to the door. "After all this kid just lost his parents and we don't know where he is. I hope you can see how he'll need your love and care." 

Remus rolled his eyes, and walked away from the Dursley's oh-so-normal house. 

~*~ 

It had been two weeks since the murders. Sirius and Harry had managed to get across the ocean and were in Canada. Sirius' hair was now blonde, and shorter than before. It had been very stressful for Sirius to cut his own hair, which he had kept long all of his life. Now it was about chin length. Sirius also had bags under his eyes from when Harry cried during the night, keeping Sirius from sleeping. Sirius had gone shopping and bought a few Muggle clothes, like jeans and tee shirts. 

Sirius was living under the name Walter Sawyer, a single father who had just gotten over a nasty divorce and didn't want to talk about it. Harry and him were living in a small flat in Quebec, where he could easily blend in with the crowd (so long as he didn't talk, because he wasn't very good with accents). Harry liked the birds that would perch on the windowsill. Sirius had dyed Harry's hair brown, and his new name was Parker. The cut that had been on Harry's forehead had disappeared, leaving only a lightning bolt shaped scar. 

Sirius had conjured up fake birth certificates and ID's for the two of them. Now Sirius was searching for a job. He had applied to one in a bookstore and in a hardware store. Both had a daycare that Harry could go to during the day. Sirius had had a good job as an Auror. He got to travel, he got to fight evil beings, and he got to meet lots of women. Right now the only woman he had met was the woman who ran the bookstore, and she was at least 70 years old. 

Sirius was still hoping that Remus was going to do something to get Sirius out of this predicament. So far there hadn't been anything in the Muggle news about Harry's "kidnapping," so the search hadn't intensified too much. Sure, Sirius sometimes saw a wizard walking down the street, trying to stay inconspicuous while searching for some sign of Sirius or Harry, but they never found anything. Sirius put a light memory charm on almost everyone he bought something from, or met on the street. No one knew where he was, except for the landlady of the apartment, and to the people that he had applied to jobs for. Not one person. 

* * *

It had been nearly two months. Two months since Lily and James had died. Two _months_ since Sirius or Harry had been seen. Just a few days before Christmas. 

Remus ran a hand through his hair and paced around the kitchen. Peter had owled, saying that he had important information for Remus, but he couldn't say anything through a letter. Peter seemed to have taken the deaths of Lily and James the hardest, for he had stayed in his house, just owling people about the Potter's. He only spoke to Remus once during the first week, just to say that they didn't know where Sirius had gone. 

Peter thought that Sirius committed suicide, and ordered people in the Ministry to search the seas, in case he jumped off a cliff. However, Peter seemed the most nervous the last time they talked, like someone had threatened him or something. 

There was a knock at the door of Remus' flat, and Peter walked in, not waiting for Remus to open if for him. 

"Remus, I-I have something very important to tell you," Peter said, wringing his hands and biting his lower lip as though he had to force himself to talk. "It's about Harry."

"What! What is it?!"

"I-I think you'd better sit down," Peter said, pointing at a chair with one shaky finger. Remus complied and looked up at his only friend. 

"Remus… today I found a dead body that had washed to shore while we were searching by the channel " Peter said. "An infant's body. We think it was Harry." 


	3. Dead and Alive

A.N. Howdy y'all! I hope that you enjoy this chapter, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review!!!! Oh, and something wonderful has happened! You've heard about my friend Tadariada, haven't you? Of course you have! Well, then of course you've also heard of her _wonderful_ story, Spiral. I know, I know that all of you were saddened when you heard that she wouldn't be writing a sequel, but guess what! She has put out the sequel to the story anyway! Now, after you finish reading my story, scoot over to her story and read it!!! 

Toodles!

Mal

  
Peter grinned as he reached into his pocket to pull out the key to his flat. It had all been so easy, manipulating Lupin and the Ministry officials. They probably wouldn't even suspect a Polyjuice Potion. Peter threw his cloak on his couch and walked into his small kitchen, searching for something to eat. No, the body had not been Potter's, although it appeared to be in body. The _real_ body belonged to a Muggle woman, about twenty years old, he had seen jogging. Now, Peter had never been great at magic, but even he could manage turning invisible, and kidnapped the woman while doing so. 

She had cried for hours as he had put the finishing touches on the potion, which he had been working on ever since that idiot, Black, had stolen the boy. Then he had added the final ingredient… the child's hair that he had gotten ages ago. The bubbling and changing of the potion's color seemed to frighten the woman even more, and Peter had to practically pry her mouth open as he dumped the liquid down her throat. 

Even in Harry's body, she cried and wailed, and Peter finally had to place a Silencing Charm on her to shut her up. The rest was rather easy. He hit the child a few times, the bruises that formed making it look like it had been abused, and then throwing the infant from the top of a high cliff. Then he retrieved the dead body that would forever resemble Lily and James' son, its neck broken, and several other limbs sticking out at odd angles. He covered it in seaweed, so it looked like it just washed up from the ocean and onto the beach. The day that followed that, he "found" the body while with Ministry officials. 

Remus believed everything that Peter told him, that the boy had been abused for at least a week, before he was sent to his death over the cliff. Remus had started crying when he heard the story and Peter even managed to fake a few tears as he comforted his mislead friend. Nice people were so easy to manipulate. 

Of course, it wasn't totally Peter's idea. Lucius Malfoy had helped him with the idea, making sure that Sirius Black would be locked away for good, unless the Potter boy was still with him. But that was easy to cover up. They could blame it on one of the other Death Eaters that had been caught a few days after the Potters died. 

Peter took out his wand and paused, thinking what he should have for dinner that night. Steak… Steak would be good…

~*~

It had been a nice dream… They had been at a Quidditch match. Everyone had been there. Lily, James, Remus, Harry and Sirius, but Peter wasn't there, because as far as Sirius was concerned, Peter was a traitor. The Seeker for England had been right about to catch the Snitch when a loud wail from the other room interrupted. 

Sirius groaned and got up from his bed. Harry had woken him up every night that week, usually by crying or by screaming, "_SIIII_! _SIII_!" This time Harry was crying loudly and erratically, as if something was hurting him. Sirius bolted into his godson's room and picked up the struggling infant. He was surprised to find that the infant was still asleep, but crying through his slumber. The child was sweating, his small mop of black hair sticking to his forehead. The lightning bolt scar that he had gotten… _that_ night stood out against the rest of his skin, He must've been dreaming something terrible, because it took a good ten minutes of walking around and cooing for Harry to calm down again, even after Sirius had awoken him. Then the boy of about 17 months fell asleep in his godfather's arms, using his chest as a pillow. Sirius put Harry back in his cradle and watched his godson sleep peacefully before returning to his own bed. 

__

BEE-BEE-BEE-BEEP! BEE-BEE-BEE-BEEP! Sirius opened one bleary eye, reached over, and slammed his hand down on his alarm clock. It was seven a.m. Sirius had to be at work at eight and getting out of the house was sometimes the hardest part of the day. Sirius had finally gotten the job at the bookstore, and Harry was perfectly happy at the daycare center with the other little kids. Sirius would come every day at his lunchtime and take Harry to lunch with him. 

It was just a few days before Christmas, and the whole house was sort of dressed up. There was a tree that looked entirely too large for the apartment, decorated with Muggle tinsel and a string of Cheerios (CHEERI!) that Harry had helped make. Sirius had left all of his real Christmas things at his house. But it didn't matter. They were going to be leaving soon anyway. He had already given his boss notice of them leaving. The magical activity had grown in this city, and it was too risky for Sirius and Harry to stay here much longer. So they were leaving again. This time they were going to Australia.

Sirius pulled the sheets off of his legs and walked into his godson's room. Harry was already awake, standing up in his crib and giggling happily while chewing on a few of his fingers.

"Hey big-boy," Sirius said, grinning at his godson and scooping him out of the crib. "Ready to go to daycare?"

"Daca."

"That's right, daycare. Come on! Lets get you ready!" 

Easier said than done. Sirius walked into the small kitchen and sat Harry down in the baby chair that he had gotten. He set a small bowl with Cheerios and milk in front of him and picked up a spoon. 

"Open up, Harry!" 

Harry giggled and stuck his fingers back in his mouth. Sirius pulled the fingers and held the spoon up to Harry's mouth.   
"Here comes the broomstick" Sirius made a burbling noise with his lips and waved the spoon in the air. "It's coming in for a landing! WEEE!" 

The spoon stopped in front of Harry's mouth, which was shut tight. 

"Open up! Let the broom land! The Quidditch player's injured!" 

Sealed tight.

"Harry, come on! We have to get going soon!" 

Harry giggled slightly and stuck his fingers back into his mouth, chewing on them. 

"Would you rather eat fingers for breakfast?"

He nodded. Sirius wondered for a moment if Harry had actually mastered the whole "Nodding-meaning-yes, Shaking-head-meaning-no" situation. 

"You need to eat your Cheerios, Harry."

"Cheeri!"

"Yes, Cheeri. Open your mouth Harry."

Sirius sighed when Harry shook his head, and put the spoon down. He went over and poured himself a cup of coffee, and was just bringing it to his lips when-

__

SPLAT! A spoonful of cereal collided with the back of Sirius' head. Sirius turned around sharply and saw Harry giggling madly, holding the spoon in the air.   
"Harry! Food is for eating!"

__

SPLAT! Another spoonful hit Sirius in the face. 

Sirius sighed and grabbed the spoon out of his godson's hand. 

"SPOO!" As Harry opened his mouth to exclaim angrily, Sirius scooped up some Cheerios and put them in Harry's mouth. The shocked child didn't know what to do, so he just chewed his breakfast without another complaint. At seven thirty Sirius picked Harry out of his high-chair, got him dressed ("SHIR! PANS!"), got himself dressed and ready, and grabbed a taxi to work. Sure, he would eventually have to get one of those Muggle cars, and that would mean learning how to actually drive one of them, but for the time being he was getting along just fine.

It took ten minutes for Sirius to get to work. After paying the driver he walked into the bookstore. The boss, a 70-ish year old woman, smiled at him while she talked on the phone. Sirius smiled back as he went to the back of the store where a small Daycare center was set up for the employees. A kind faced woman took Harry from Sirius after he was signed in. Harry scrunched up his face in a sad sort of way and cried, "SIIII!" 

"Sirius has to go," Sirius replied, rubbing Harry on the head, making his messy brown hair go everywhere, sticking up at even odder angles. "I'll be back at noon. Bye Harry." 

Harry still had the sad look on his face as he waved his small hand to say goodbye. 

~*~

The report came back that day. It was indeed Harry Potter's body that they had found. Remus was overcome with grief. How could Sirius do this? Was all that adoration that he had shown for the boy just an act? Was he really the horrible Death Eater that everyone thought he was? 

Remus pushed the papers away, not bearing to look at the pictures of the boy that Lily and James had loved so much, and was now dead like them. Purple and black bruises covered the small body, and his arms and legs were twisted at odd angles. Apparently he had been dropped from a very high place. 

Remus sat in his chair, sobbing for his friends. Why? Why had Sirius done it? Why hadn't he voiced his suspicions of Sirius being a spy before all this happened? It could have been prevented if Remus had just said something… Now he only had one true friend left. Peter. Peter had always been the quietest one of their group, and now Remus and him were the only ones left. 

__

Knock! Knock! Remus jumped at the sound and hurriedly wiped his eyes. 

"Who-Who is it?" He asked shakily, getting to his feet.

"It's Frank and Neville." 

Frank Longbottom. He had a little boy named Neville, who was about Harry's age. Remus opened the door and saw the two of them standing there, with snot dripping out of Neville's nose.   
"Hello Frank," Remus said hoarsely. "How are you?"

"Good, good. I-we came over to say that we're terribly sorry about this whole ordeal… awful thing to happen to anyone."

"Yeah…" Remus said slowly. "Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"

"Yes. Yes, I suppose I could," Frank replied, giving a small smile. Neville grinned and shouted, "GEEEERRR!" 

Remus laughed slightly at the child and started to make tea. Frank sat down and looked around the room. 

"Nice place you've got here," Frank said. "How long have you lived here?"

"Oh… since I got out of school. I just moved right in. Actually, Lily and James crashed here for a while too, while they searched for a house of their own."

"They were wonderful people. Perfect for each other."

"Yeah, I know," Remus said sadly. "Sugar?"

"No, that's alright."

"Does Neville want anything?"

"CCOOOKKKK!"

Remus laughed. "Does that mean cookie?"

"Yep," Frank replied, bouncing Neville slightly. "It's amazing. It seems just like yesterday he was coming home for the first time from the hospital, and now he's talking. Muggle babies don't talk until they're about 2, you know?"

"Yes, I've heard that. I wonder why witches and wizards start talking earlier than Muggles."

"Who knows. Harry had just started talking a few months ago. Well… a butchered form of talking. He would only say part of the word he wanted to say."

"Neville's the same way. He says "Cook" for cookie, "Dri" for drink, and "Boo" for book."

"Harry used to say, "Cheeri" for Cheerios (it's a kind of Muggle cereal), and "Ho" for Home."

Remus put a cup of tea with a cookie on the saucer in front of Frank and Neville. 

After a minute of uneasy silence, Remus asked a question that he had been dying to ask. 

"How's the case going?"

Frank shifted uneasily and put down his cup. "Not too good. Black has pulled out at all the stops to make sure that he won't be found. After all, he's charged with several things. Being a Death Eater and murder for a start. The least he'll get is life in Azkaban, _if_ we can find him

"All of the Aurors are in total disbelief. It's been _months_ and we still can't believe what he did to his two friends and now what he did to Harry." Frank sighed, and looked over at Remus. 

"Don't worry, Remus. We'll find him and he'll get the punishment he deserves."

Frank reached over and clapped Remus on the shoulder. "I promise you." 

~*~

Harry was sitting in a highchair, munching on few French Fries. They were at some sort of greasy Muggle fast-food restaurant. Sirius was munching on a hamburger with limp lettuce and a thin piece of beef, and Harry had a few rubbery chicken nuggets in front of him. This was their dinner for the day. Sirius had managed to burn some soup that they were _supposed_ to be eating, but Harry didn't seem to mind at all. Harry gurgled happily and said "Fi!" which probably meant fry. Sirius handed Harry a few more, and he continued to munch happily. Sirius was looking over a Muggle newspaper. 

He missed the Daily Prophet, and he couldn't get used to the still pictures. However, he was happy because there wasn't any news about him in the paper. 

Sirius sighed as he discretely conjured up a piece of parchment and a pen. 

__

Dear Remus, he wrote.

How are you doing? I don't know why I bother asking you that, since you won't be able to reply to this letter… but it's the thought that counts I suppose. Frankly, at the moment I don't know how I'm going to get this letter to you. But don't bother trying to trace it. By the time you get this we'll probably be long gone from this place.

I'm not going to tell you where I am, but I will tell you that I am doing well. Harry is fine too, and is enjoying day care. He's right here, getting his fingers rather greasy. 

I'm guessing that you haven't helped get me out of this mess, as of now. I hope that you do decide to help me soon. I don't know how much longer I can live like this!  
I guess I'll cut this letter short, because you always said that I tend to babble. 

Happy Holidays.

Your friend,

Sirius

Remus looked at the letter in disgust. This was sick. How could he even dare _write_ about Harry after what he's done? It was twisted how he talked about Harry as if he was sitting right before him. 

Remus had woken up to find the letter in front of his fireplace. 

"He's insane," Remus muttered to himself. "He even asked me to help him. _Help him_! After what he's done…" 

Remus glared at the letter once more, and threw it into the crackling fire. He watched for a moment as the fire curled around the letter, before it disappeared in the flames. 


	4. SAND!

"SIRIUS!" Yelled the three-year-old from his room. "SIRIUS! I NEED YOUR HELP!" 

Sirius Black was sitting downstairs, sipping his coffee, and reading the newspaper. He sighed and put down his things, before walking up the stairs to his godson's room.

"What do you need Harry?" Sirius asked, walking into Harry's room, which was covered with pictures Harry had drawn at preschool. The boy was lying on his bed, struggling with one of his shoes. 

"Help! I can't get my shoe on!" Harry exclaimed, holding his foot out for Sirius, with his small sneaker dangling off of his toe. Sirius grabbed Harry by the ankle, and put Harry's shoe on. Then he took it off, realizing that he had put the left shoe on the right foot. Harry wasn't exactly up to date on the whole left-shoe-goes-on-left-foot theory yet.   
After the shoes were on the correct feet, Sirius grabbed Harry by the ankles, picked him up off the bed, and carried him out of the room, upside down. Harry giggled madly and tried to touch the floor beneath his head. 

"All right, kiddo," Sirius said, flipping his godson right-side up and putting him on one of the chairs in the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Cheerios!" 

"You have Cheerios everyday Harry! Don't you want something else? Like toast?"

"I want Cheerios," Harry said, matter-of-factly.

"Why do you like Cheerios so much?"

"Because I do." 

Sirius sighed and got Harry his breakfast.

A lot had changed in the past two years, despite the fact that Harry was still eating Cheerios by the ton. They were now living in Florida, after living in Russia for four months. They were living in a small house in a normal looking neighborhood. Sirius had managed to get a used car, and was driving that around. He often complained to himself that it was nothing compared to his old motorcycle. Harry didn't seem to mind. He didn't even remember Sirius' motorcycle. 

Harry had grown into a happy, energetic three-year-old, who enjoyed playing in sand, getting incredibly dirty, and chasing bubbles that were produced from Sirius' wand. 

Harry didn't often question why he was living with his godfather instead of his parents. Sirius had explained to him that his parents were dead because of a very _very_ bad wizard after being betrayed by one of their friends. Harry knew that he had survived the attack somehow, but Sirius didn't tell him why. '_When you're older'_ Sirius had sighed. Harry didn't question why they moved all the time either. Sirius had also told him that everyone thought he had betrayed Harry's parents, but it was really mean old Pettigrew. This was a lot for a three-year old to take in, but Harry didn't think about it very often. Usually late at night, when Sirius was asleep. Sometimes he wondered what his parents were like, and how everything would be different if they were still alive. Sirius would probably be much happier that way, and he would get to see Moony again! 

Sirius had told Harry all about Moony, or Remus. He had told Harry about all the adventures that the Marauders had gone on together. Harry usually insisted that Sirius tell him a story before bed, and they usually involved Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, although Wormtail was often left out of part of the story.

While Harry ate breakfast, Sirius got dressed. He was working as an assistant for someone in a big law firm. He had studied Muggle Law while he was working as an Auror, and knew enough to be good at his job. The firm dealt with divorce and family cases for the most part. The firm had a pre-school nearby, and Harry went there during the workday. Harry's hair had grown out, and was no longer brown, but its usual black. Sirius' hair was growing back out again, and Sirius wasn't sure if he should chop it off again or if he should grow it out once more. While Sirius' hair was smooth and sleek, Harry's hair was… well… like his father's had been. All over the place. Sirius kept it short, so it wouldn't look so wild, but it also showed the unusual scar on Harry's forehead. 

Sirius knew that it was a curse scar, and that Harry had probably gotten it from the Killing Curse that had backfired. Although he was living as a Muggle, news from the Wizarding world had reached his ear. Apparently Voldemort was gone. Disappeared. He probably wasn't dead, not yet at least, but just out of view and out of mind for a while. Sirius was relieved, to say the least. He was already on the run from the Ministry, he didn't need to be on the run from Voldemort as well.

"Sirius! I'm done!" Harry exclaimed, dropping his spoon into his bowl with a clatter. "Can we go to the park today?"

"I have to work today, Harry," Sirius said, taking a sip of coffee. "This weekend, I promise. We'll spend the whole day there."

"Yay!" Harry grinned, clapping his hands together. He jumped down from his chair and went running around the living room, chanting, "We're goin' to the park this weekend! We're goin' to the park this weekend!"

"Go brush your teeth, Harry," Sirius called. "We got to go soon!"

"Goin' to brush my teeth! Goin' to brush my teeth!" 

A few minutes later they were ready to go. Sirius helped Harry put on his coat, wiped some toothpaste off of Harry's face, and they walked out to the garage. Sirius buckled Harry into his carseat, while Harry started singing, "We're going to preschool! We're going to preschool!" 

~*~

Remus walked through Diagon Alley, occasionally stopping and taking a look at something in a shop window, or in a display outside of the store. He was supposed to be having a meeting with Dumbledore, supposedly about Black, who had been on the run for over two years. Dumbledore had also hinted at something else, but Remus didn't know what. 

It had also been about a year and a half since the Longbottoms had been attacked. They said it was Death Eaters, and those Death Eaters had been convicted and sent to Azkaban. One of those Death Eaters had died there, Barty Crouch's son. The Longbottoms had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse for hours on end, until they had been driven insane. Now they were unfit for most things, especially taking care of Neville. Their son had been shipped off to live with his strict Grandmother, whom Remus had only met once. Frankly, Neville was likely to be scared to death of her, or raised to be snooty and strict.

Remus walked into the Leaky Cauldron. It wasn't hard to spot the headmaster, for his silver beard stood out in the crowd. 

"Good day, Remus," Professor Dumbledore said as his former student approached. "Do have a seat, we have much to discuss. Do you want something to eat?"

"No, no sir, I'm fine," Remus said, sitting down in one of the chairs. 

"How's Peter doing?" Dumbledore asked, looking down at a menu. "Wasn't he promoted just a few months ago?"

"Yes, just two months ago," Remus nodded. "He really deserves it, after all he's done for the case."

"Yes, yes the case…" Dumbledore's face got grim. "There's been a rumor that Black was spotted somewhere east. No one can elaborate though. We can't just go searching all over the world for him, because of a rumor, though."

Remus couldn't think of anything to say, so he just nodded. 

"How have you been?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the man over his half-moon glasses. "How's your job?"

"I'm doing… okay. It's rather hard to get a job with my… condition. At least in the Wizarding world. I'm still working at Flourish and Blotts, and occasionally at Zonkos if they need an extra hand."

"With all of your escapades at school, I would assume you would be quite talented at the latter of the two," Dumbledore replied, smiling slightly. Remus laughed and said, "That was more Sirius and James, I only provided an alibi half of the time."

"I remember finding you in my office a fair few times," Dumbledore chuckled. "Now Peter, he was the one who doesn't have a file that could be used as a paperweight. He had some common sense."

"Didn't have a whole lot of magical power, but common sense, yes," Remus replied. "Glad we have _someone_ reliable in the Ministry."

"Remus," Dumbledore said abruptly. "Are you happy with your job?"  
"Well, I suppose I'm as happy as I could be with that job," Remus shrugged. 

"Would you like a new one?"

"I suppose, but where am I going to get one?"

"I'd give you one."

Remus' eyes got wide. "P-Professor," he said. "What kind of job would it be?"

"Perhaps Care of Magical Creatures, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. I do say that you have a way with animals, and you were quite good in the Defense class. You've had a bit of experience, haven't you?"  
Remus gulped. "I-I suppose. But Professor- I don't know if I can _teach_ a class!"

"From what I've seen, you were always quite good with children! You always helped the first years when they got lost, while you were at school, no matter what house they were in. Besides, this way I could keep you filled in on recent events in the case."

"I don't know what to say!" Remus said, leaning back in his chair.

"You can say yes."

Remus was silent for a moment, before a smile crept to his face. "Yes. I'll do it!"  


~*~

True to his word, Sirius took Harry to the park that Saturday. Sirius didn't like to go out in public more than necessary, but Harry had an infatuation with going to the park near their house, and wanted to do it as much as Sirius would let him. 

Harry was running around madly, supposedly in a game of tag around the jungle gym. None of the children really seemed to be paying much attention to who was "it" and just sprinted around, waving their arms about and screaming madly. 

Sirius sat down on one of the benches, and watched his godson play with the other kids his age. Harry was being chased by a girl with long, brown pigtails, who was yelling at the top of her lungs without stopping for a breath. Sirius was afraid that she was going to faint. 

Sirius watched as his godson ran about, wondering when Harry would be ready to eat his lunch that Sirius had packed for him. Sirius remembered when Lilly, James, Remus, and him had gone on a picnic when they were back at Hogwarts. They had spent the day lying around on the grass, eating, and playing a Muggle game called "Frisbee." At the park Sirius could see people playing this game. Some were playing it with their dogs, and Sirius wondered if he could jump as high as those other dogs if he was in his Animagus form… 

"Pardon me," a voice said suddenly, making Sirius jump slightly. Sirius turned and saw a woman standing a few feet away, smoking a cigarette. 

"Yes?" Sirius replied, not sure what the woman wanted. 

"Are you Sirius Black?" Asked the woman, eyeing him cautiously. All of the color drained from Sirius' face and his eyes got extremely wide. The woman looked like a Muggle… how could she know about him-

"Don't look so worried, honey," the woman said, giving a sort of twisted smile. "I ain't going to turn the authorities on you. That would be suicide for me."

"Who are you?" Sirius growled, looking out of the corner of is eye, trying to spot Harry so they could leave as quickly as possible. 

"Sandy Dungerfeild, at your service," she said, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

"Sandy Dunger- you mean _Insane- _Sandy Dungerfeild! The one who killed her husband and his-"

"Yep. That's me," Sandy replied, with a bite of impatience in her voice. "So was I right? You're Sirius Black?"

Silence.

"Look hun, I was framed," Sandy replied hastily. "A bunch of Death Eaters wanted me out of the way, and so they attacked the house. _I _was out gardening at the time, and my husband was rolling around with that bimbo right upstairs, just two stories above my head. Well, next thing I knew, the Death Eaters were running out of the house after walking in on my husband and her, killing both of them, thinking that his slut was actually me. I was framed, so I ran. I've been running ever since."

Sirius stared at the woman, who was crushing a cigarette under her sneaker. She had blended in with the crowd, just as Sirius was attempting to do. She looked like a Muggle, with her huge sweater and Muggle jeans. She had her hair pulled out into a loose ponytail. 

"Bu-but why are you here?" Sirius managed to ask. "I mean, you and him never had a kid-"

"Not with him, no," Sandy said, giving another twisted smile. "Let's just say I don't have the best taste in men." She pointed over to the sandbox. "D'ya see that girl? The one with the pigtails?"

Sirius looked and saw the girl who had been running around, screaming just a few minutes earlier. She was now playing in the sand, with Harry and a few other children. One of her pigtails had come out, and her hair was a tangled mess, the ponytail holder still hanging by a few strands. 

"Hi mommy!" The girl said, waving when she saw her mother looking over at her. She waved frantically and then went back to dumping sand on a nearby boy's head. 

"That's my darling, Cameron," Sandy said with a small smile. "Her father left me before she was born."

Sirius nodded. 

"Is it true that you kidnapped Harry Potter?" Sandy asked. Sirius looked up at her, frowning. "Sorry, but I heard about it from a discarded newspaper years ago. I hadn't had any contact with the Wizarding World in years, and I read that paper five times, and practically memorized everything that happened. I'm assuming you were framed too?"

"And how do you assume that?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow. 

"You're too nice."

Sirius laughed, and pointed to his godson, "There's Harry, playing near your daughter. With the messy black hair."

"Ah yes, he looks like James," Sandy said dreamily. Sirius nodded, vaguely remembering that Sandy had been three years ahead of them at school. "You don't have to tell me what happened, if you don't want to. I mean, it took me _years_ before I could talk about what happened."

"Have you ever tried talking to the Ministry about what happened?" Sirius asked. 

"Hell no! The Ministry of Magic is the sort of government that would give the Dementor's Kiss, rather than give a trial. There's no way that I'm going to talk to them. Besides, with Fudge leading them, there's no way I'll get off. He depends too much on other people, and does exactly what they say. I don't want to risk it."

"So you're going to live this way for the rest of your life?" Sirius asked incredulously. 

"Hey, I like my life," Sandy said sternly. "I have a job, I have my kid. To hell with men, I don't need them anymore. They've screwed up my life already." She reached for another cigarette and struggled with her lighter. "My advice to you is to forget your past life, and start anew. The Ministry won't do anything with substantial evidence, and if they haven't already found it, to hell with them too."

She took a drag off of her cigarette and yelled out, "Cameron! Don't put sand in your shoes and pockets! I don't want to spend the whole night vacuuming after you!"

The girl with the one pigtail sticking out of the side of her head, jutted out her lower lip. 

"Don't even try it, young lady! You empty those shoes and pockets now!" Sandy called, pointing her finger threateningly. The girl rolled her eyes and started digging sand out of her pocket. 

"Honestly, I would seriously like to hurt the man who invented sand boxes," Sandy said. "Oh, by the way, your boy is burying himself in sand." 

"_Harry_!" Sirius said, jumping up and jogging over to the sandbox. Harry's legs were mostly covered in the sand. 

"Look at me, Sirius!" Harry said, throwing sand in the air and making Sirius sneeze. 

"Very nice Harry," Sirius said, reaching down and pulling Harry out of the sandbox. There was sand everywhere on the boy now, in his hair, in his pockets. Somehow it managed to get into his mouth, but Sirius had always known Harry to have odd eating habits. 

Sandy laughed slightly as Sirius started dusting Harry off. Cameron came over a second later, and her mom started to do a sand inspection. Cameron was shooting Harry dirty looks during the whole ordeal. 

"My mommy's magic!" Cameron yelled suddenly. "She can curse your daddy!"

"Sirius is more magic!" Harry replied tauntingly. "And he's not my daddy! He's my godfather so there!" Then Harry stuck his tongue out at Cameron. Cameron stuck her tongue back out and used one finger to push her nose up. 

"All right, both of you. Neither of us is magic," Sandy said through gritted teeth. 

"But today you-" Sandy clamped one of her hands over her daughter's mouth, muffling the sound. 

"Kids these days," Sirius said to someone who had been staring at them. "If we're not magic we're race car drivers! Next my boy will be saying that I invented the light bulb."

Sandy snorted and turned to her daughter. "Remember what I said earlier! Don't say anything about mommy's magic."  
"Yeah, same to you!" Sirius said, looking at Harry, who was sticking his tongue out at Cameron again. 

"Here," Sandy said, while trying to keep Cameron from biting her hand. She handed Sirius a piece of paper. "This is my phone number. If you ever need help from someone, call me."

"Oh, oh, right," Sirius said, stuffing the paper into his jeans pocket. "Well, Harry, we'd better be going."

"But you said we could spend the whole day-"

"Come on Harry," Sirius said, pulling Harry away. The lunches were forgotten on the park bench, as Sirius and Harry left the park, the younger of the two with sand still in his hair. 


	5. Spots and Sandy

A.N. **_9_** thank you to all of you who reviewed. 

Malena

"BONJOUR!" Harry yelled, ecstatic because of the new word he had learned. "Bonjourbonjourbonjour-"

"HARRY!" Sirius called. "Start unpacking!" 

Still babbling, Harry Potter, who was now almost five years old, ran down the hallway of their new apartment, still repeating the word that their new neighbor had said that morning. Sirius doubted that Harry even knew what it meant, but he continued to say it. 

They had moved, yet again. After about 2 months after Sirius and Harry had met Sandy, they had moved to Brazil, and then to a variety of other places, before stopping in Vietnam. Harry had had trouble transitioning languages, but he was getting better at it. Their neighbor was from France, a photographer that had moved to Vietnam. Harry seemed to like it there. It was only the second day, and he was already making friends with some of the other children in the apartment complex, even though he couldn't exactly understand what most of them were saying. There was the French woman's child, who could speak both French and English. Sirius had seen him on the way out to get groceries the other day while Harry was napping. 

Sirius knew that they were going to be living there for probably only a month, since Harry would be starting kindergarten pretty soon, and Sirius wanted him to attend a school where they spoke a language he knew fluently. Harry only knew one word of French, which was one of the languages in Vietnam, and that was-

"BONJOUR!" 

"HARRY! START YOUR UNPACKING!"  
"Oui, Monsoir!"

Sirius frowned at Harry's new choice of words. "Where did you learn that?"  
Harry came out, holding a picture in his little hands. "Felix said it to his daddy." 

"Oh really? And who's Felix?" Sirius asked. 

"Felix is the boy who lives next door," Harry said simply. 

"When did you hear him talking to his daddy?"

"Just a few minutes ago."

Sirius frowned again. "Are the walls that thin?"

"I didn't hear it through the walls," Harry said, sounding as though he thought that Sirius was being quite ridiculous. 

"How'd you hear him Harry?" 

The child shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Sirius raised his eyebrow. "That's odd."

"Mmmhmm," Harry said, wiping off the picture and its frame that he still held in his hand. 

"Sirius?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Why don't I have a Daddy?" 

Sirius nearly dropped the box he was putting in the cupboard. "Harry, I already told you that your parents were killed by a very bad wizard. That's why you don't have a daddy."

"I know," Harry said, tracing the outline of the frame with one of his fingers. "But… you said that there was more… that you would tell me everything when I'm older."

"I know, Harry," Sirius sighed, not remembering saying that at all. 

"Can you tell me now?"

Sirius sighed again and turned to look at his godson. "No, not yet."

"What about when I'm five. I'll be older then!" Harry said, looking up at his godfather with big his big green eyes. Lily's eyes… 

"Maybe. Maybe when you're five," Sirius said, wiping sweat off of his forehead. There were extremely high temperatures in Vietnam. Harry grinned and ran off to his room, still clutching the picture in his hands. 

~*~

Even after his first year of teaching at Hogwarts, several of the teachers still thought of him to be the same prank-playing student that he had once been. However, the times had changed, and now Remus was the one dismantling the Dungbombs and telling students off for talking in class. Although he thought that he wasn't as interesting as Professor McGonnogal, or as mystical as Professor Trelawny, he had heard from several students that he was their favorite teacher. 

They, of course, knew nothing of his… disease, and he would have to hide away from everyone during that painful time. It was like he was a student again, running away during the full moon to the Shrieking Shack. He knew that there was a potion that could help the transformations, but the Potions Professor wasn't skilled enough to make it. No, Professor Hershwin wasn't very talented at all, and was rather annoying as well. He had been there when Remus was a student, although he had seemed less annoying then. He had just given them a book assignment and told them what to do, before sitting behind his desk and going to sleep. Remus rarely had to actually _talk_ to Professor Hershwin back then, but now he had staff meetings, and had to spend almost every dinner sitting next to him. He was growing to be a huge nuisance, and Remus couldn't wait to be rid of him.

Remus walked down the hallway of Hogwarts, not wearing the usual teaching wardrobe, but instead wearing a simple black sweatshirt and beige slacks. It was almost a month before the school year actually started, and the staff was already having meetings about the upcoming year. Remus pushed open the door to the staff room and found himself face to face with-

"Hello Lupin," growled a sickeningly familiar voice. Remus glared at the man who stood before them. 

"Hello Snape," Lupin said. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Haven't you heard?" Snape asked. "Professor Hershwin is retiring. Hogwarts is in need of a new Potions Master."

Remus vaguely remembered Snape being rather good at Potions. 

"Ah, Remus," said Dumbledore, coming in after him. "I see you have arrived." Remus nodded and swept past Snape, choosing one of the mismatched chairs to sit in, far away from Snape. One by one the teachers trickled in. Some of them looked quite different. Professor McGonnogal was wearing a short-sleeved, light blue robe. Professor Sprout had on some Muggle gardening clothes, but still had her Witch hat perched on her flyaway hair. Trelawney hadn't changed her wardrobe, but had chosen a sickly smelling perfume that she must've marinated in that morning. Dumbledore was wearing his normal robes, and must've been rather hot, and Flitwick had chosen to be like Remus and wear all Muggle clothes. He was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt and bright green shorts. 

"I see that many of you have already gotten acquainted with our latest addition to the Hogwarts family."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"For those of you who haven't, this is Severus Snape. He was a student here a few years ago, and will be working as our Potions Master." Snape sneered around the room, stopping to glare at Remus. Remus knew very well why Snape hated him so much… it was Sirius' fault for the majority of it… it was because of Sirius that Snape knew that he was a werewolf. Remus just prayed that Snape wouldn't say anything to any of the students, for then Remus would most likely be fired or forced to resign. 

Dumbledore had moved on to other matters of business, leaving Remus and Snape to loathe each other from across the room. 

~*~

"Sirius!" yelled Harry. "SIRIUS!"

Sirius groaned and looked over at the clock. It was three a.m. What on earth could the boy need at _this _hour?

"I'm coming!" Sirius bellowed, throwing his blankets off of his legs and standing. It was dark and Sirius nearly tripped over the pile of clothes near his bed. Cursing, he walked down the hall to Harry's room. 

"What is it, Harry?" Sirius asked. He could see the outline of his godson, sitting up in bed. 

"Sirius, I'm all itchy," Harry said. Sirius flipped a switch and light flooded the room. Harry was scratching at his arms, before looking down at himself and saying, "Sirius… I've got spots."

Sirius' eyes got wide and he strode over to Harry's bed, sitting down next to him and examining the boy's arms. He was right. Little red spots littered his arms in random places. 

"What on earth…" Sirius said. He picked up Harry and carried him to the living room, putting him on the couch. He turned on the lights and examined Harry under better light. Parts of his skin were irritated from scratching so much. Sirius didn't know what to say… he had never seen this before. Must be some sort of Muggle disease….

Sirius went and got a washcloth, wetted it and put it on Harry's arms, trying to scrub some of the dots off. They wouldn't come off. 

"Sirius it really itches!" Harry said. 

"I know Harry, I know," Sirius whispered. Suddenly he thought of someone who could help. He jumped up, and went to his room. He started to go through all of his drawers, searching for-

"Ah ha!" Sirius said triumphantly, holding up a creased piece of paper. It had Sandy's phone number on it. Sirius rushed over to the phone and started to dial all the necessary codes in order to reach Florida. He just prayed that she was still living there…

"Hello?" said a woman's voice when he finally got through. 

"Sandy?" Sirius said urgently. 

"Who is this?" snapped the woman. 

"It's Sirius," he replied. 

"Oh… Sirius Black?"

"Yes."

"Hi… how're you."

"Er-I'm doing fine, but I'm calling about Harry."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"He's got spots!"

There was silence on the other end for a second, before Sirius heard a faint voice in the background. "Who is it mommy?"

"No one Cameron, go play. Spots, you say?"

"Er… yes," Sirius replied. "They're all over him, and he says they're rather itchy."

"Ah, I think know what that is," Sandy said. "Cameron had it a few months ago."

"What is it?" Sirius asked desperately. 

"Chicken Pox."

"He's turning into a chicken!?" Sirius exclaimed. 

"No, no," Sandy laughed. "He's-he's not turning into a chicken."

"Well than what is it?!"   
"It's… I don't know… Listen, perhaps you'd better come over. I can show you how to care for Harry while he has it."

Sirius paused for a moment, and looked over at Harry, who was scratching feverishly at some dots on his cheek. 

"How will I get there? Apparating is dangerous across continents."

"Well, unless you have time to catch a plane," Sandy said, "You don't have much of a choice. We aren't connected to Floo Powder, for obvious reasons, and I doubt that you are too. I've done it loads of times. Hurry up. It'll only get worse the longer you wait."

Sirius paused again and said, "All right, give me your address."

He grabbed a pen and scribbled down what she said, before saying his farewell and hanging up the phone.

"Come on Harry, we're going on a little trip."

"Where," Harry asked, scratching his neck. "Are we going to a park!?"

"No, Harry, we're going to visit Sandy," Sirius picked up the five year old and a second later they had disappeared with a _pop_. 

~*~ 

Remus took out the key to his flat. He never stayed there much, only in the summer, and he rented it out to Peter or another friend during that time. Today, he was surprised to find that the door was already unlocked, and slightly ajar. There were little shuffling noises coming from inside… Remus glared his eyes and pulled out his wand. That day had been bad enough, finding out that Severus Snape was going to be a new teacher there, and he didn't want to make things worse by getting killed. 

Remus slowly pushed the door open, thankful for its silence, and walked inside. The shuffling noises were coming from the kitchen. Remus adjusted his grip and sprang around the corner, pointing his wand at the person who was standing in front of the open refrigerator. 

"Hi Remus," Peter said, closing the door, with the jug of orange juice in one hand and a ham sandwich in the other. He looked at the wand that Remus still held tightly. "Going to curse me, eh?" 

Remus sighed and lowered his wand. "What are you doing here Peter?"

"Waiting for you of course," Peter said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Why who do you think I was?"

"I don't know…" Remus said uneasily. 

"Well, I'm certainly not Sirius, if that's what you were thinking," Peter said, giving an uneasy laugh. 

"Yeah… any news about him?" Remus asked, running a hand through his light brown hair.

"Not an inkling. It's like he disappeared…"

Peter got sort of a frightened look on his face, and sat down at the kitchen table.

"How was the meeting?" Peter asked.

"A disaster," Remus groaned. "Severus Snape is the new Potions Master."

Peter spit out the orange juice that he had just took a sip of. "What?!" He exclaimed. "But he was- wasn't he a Death Eater?" 

"He was never convicted…" Remus said bitterly. "Honestly, I have no idea why Dumbledore hired him."

Peter sort of shifted his gaze to the floor and took another sip of orange juice.   
"Why'd you come and visit me?" Remus asked, remembering that Peter had been waiting for him to arrive.

"Oh! Right…" Peter said. "I came to ask if you wanted to go to dinner with me and my new girlfriend."

"Wouldn't that be awkward? I mean, I'm not dating right now, so it'd just be you, me and her."

"She's bringing a friend for you!" Peter said happily. "You'll love her! She's funny, she's smart, she's _gorgeous_, what more could you want?" 

Remus gave a smile and said, "Alright, I'll bite. When is it?"

"August 3rd, at the Leaky Cauldron."

~*~

Sirius appeared in a small living room, still holding his spotted godson. A woman was standing there, filing her nails. There was a girl that was Harry's age sitting on a couch, staring at the television with wide, unblinking eyes. 

"There you are," Sandy said. "Took you long enough. Good to see you made it in one piece."

"I'm itchy," Harry proclaimed. 

"Yep," Sandy said, taking a look at Harry's arm. "Definitely chicken pox. The best thing to do would be to give him an oatmeal bath." 

Sirius raised his eyebrow. "An oatmeal bath."

"Don't ask, just follow me." Sandy led the both of them out of the room, and into one of the bathrooms in the flat. 

"Fill the tub halfway with water, I'll be right back."  
Sirius sat Harry on the counter near the sink, and turned the taps. A minute later Sandy reappeared, holding a box of oatmeal. 

"Alright Harry, time for a bath," Sirius said, lifting the tee shirt that Harry wore to bed off. 

"I don't want to take a bath," Harry said, sticking out his upper lips and crossing his arms. 

"I'm sure that they have some toys that you could play with," Sirius said. Sandy started to pour oatmeal into the bath water, before they left Harry to get finished undressing. 

A minute later Harry was yelling out, "SIRIUS! SIRIUS!"

Sirius walked back into the bathroom. "What's the matter, Harry?"  
"There are things floating in this water," Harry said, lifting up his hand that had soggy oatmeal in it.   
"It's supposed to be like that," Sirius said, pulling some pieces of oatmeal out of Harry's messy black hair. 

"It's gross," Harry said, dropping the goop into the water. 

"It'll help your chicken pox."

Harry splashed around a bit more, before asking if there were any toys that he could play with. 

"Er… sure," Sirius picked up one of Cameron's toys from the floor. "Here you go."

Harry looked horrified. "Sirius no!"  
"What's wrong with it?" Sirius asked. "It's just a horse."

"It's _pink_!" Harry gasped. "I can't play with a _girl's_ toy! It might have cooties!"

Sirius laughed and put the toy back where he found it. "Well then, you won't have anything to play with. You only have to stay in there for a few more minutes."

Harry frowned and continued splashing the oatmeal water everywhere. Suddenly the door creaked open, and Cameron walked in. 

"MOMMY!" She shrieked. "THERE ARE BOYS IN HERE!" 

"I know Cameron," Sandy said. "You remember Harry and Sirius, don't you?" 

"MOMMY! THEY COULD GIVE US COOTIES!" Cameron continued to scream. 

"Oh Cameron, be quiet," Sandy snapped. "We don't want to disturb the neighbors."

"Harry, I think you've had enough time soaking," Sirius looked at Harry's fingers. "You're getting all pruney." 

Harry started to stand up, and Cameron went screaming from the bathroom. 

"MOMMY! ONE OF THE BOYS IS NAKED! IN MY TUB!"  
"That's nice, sweetie," Sandy said calmly. "Sirius, the towels are in the closet."

"Thanks, Sandy," Sirius went and grabbed one big towel, and Harry started to dry himself off. After Harry was dressed again, Sirius rubbed his hair until it was merely damp and sticking up in all directions. 

"Why don't you go out and watch TV with Cameron," Sandy called from the kitchen. "I'll make you a snack."

"Actually, Sandy, we'd better get back home. It's still the middle of the night at our house," Sirius said, walking into the kitchen with Harry beside him.

"I'm not tired, Sirius," Harry said, pulling at Sirius' pajama pant's leg. 

"Sirius, you're welcome to camp out in the guest room for the rest of the night. Harry can have an extended nap later."

"No, no that's quite alright," Sirius yawned. He followed Sandy back into the kitchen. "Thank you for your help Sandy." 

"You're welcome. It was no problem. Cameron came down with it a few months ago. I got it as well, so I know _perfectly_ well how to take care of it."

"I have to thank you somehow. Perhaps… dinner?" Sirius asked. 

Sandy raised one of her eyebrows. "Dinner, eh? And would this, Mr. Black, be a ploy just to get me in bed?"

Sirius looked horrified. "NO! This is just a… wait…" He saw that Sandy was sniggering as she was spreading jelly on a piece of bread. 

"Believe it or not, Mr. Black, your reputation has spread far and wide, and it has even reached little old me."

"So, is that a yes?" Sirius asked hopefully. 

"No. It's a no. There's no way in hell I'm going to let another man so much as touch me, ever again," Sandy said. "You've heard about my past, there's been nothing but bad things with men."

"Oh, so you don't swing that way?"

Sandy burst into laughter again. "I-I didn't say that! I just mean that if- oh stop laughing!" 

Sirius was the one laughing now. He couldn't stop for several minutes, that is, until Sandy smacked him upside the head.   
"But-but really, I need to repay you somehow," Sirius finally managed to choke out. 

Sandy thought for a moment and said very slowly. "I have an idea."

"Name it."

Sandy lowered her voice. "You see, Cameron isn't what you'd call a _people person._ She doesn't have any friends at daycare, just an invisible friend named Alice."

"Oh… well, it'll be a little hard to keep up a friendship this far away, wouldn't it?"

"No, not really," Sandy said. "Just have Harry send Cameron a letter every so often. She likes mail. And perhaps during the summers they could get together."  
"But at that park, they couldn't stand each other," Sirius said. "Do you really think that they can be friends?"

Sandy grabbed Sirius by the jaw and turned his head to look at the living room. Both of the kids were sitting side by side, staring at the TV, where some giant yellow bird was dancing around." 

"Shouldn't take that long, don't you think?" Sandy said, letting go of Sirius. 

"Y-yeah," Sirius said, yawning again. "Alright, you've got a deal."

"Good," Sandy said. "Now, go take a nap, you're tired and you have to work later." 

Sirius rolled his eyes, while Sandy told him how to get to the guestroom. Sirius took her advice however, and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. 

Sirius awoke a few hours later, to the sound of Harry and Cameron giggling madly, and the sound of the TV. He scratched his cheek and rolled out of the bed. He walked ran a hand through his hair and walked out to the living room.

"Harry," He yawned, trying to scratch his back. "We've got to get home."

"Look!" Cameron cried. "Sirius is spotty too!"  
Harry giggled and Sirius looked down at his arms. He was covered in little red spots…


	6. Five

A.N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Keep up the good work! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sure you'll like the ending. *evil grin *

Mal

_Dear Remus,_

It's hard to believe that Harry is five, isn't it? Really, it seems just like yesterday he was only beginning to walk, and now I can barely get him to stop moving! Today we had Sandy and her daughter, Cameron, over for a small birthday party. Harry was elated, because he's never had a real birthday party (except the one we threw for him on his first birthday). Cameron's his little friend who we write to every couple of weeks. They became friends while Harry had chicken pox. Have you ever heard of them? It must be some sort of Muggle disease, because I'd never heard of it before! Well, I got it too, and actually had to be hospitalized because of it. 

Have you caught that rat yet? You know who I'm talking about, or has he hidden away? Anyway, I know you can't reply to this, because you have absolutely no idea where I am, but I hope that you're quite well. Oh, and we've enclosed a couple of presents for the Christmases and Birthdays we've missed. 

Your friend, 

Sirius

Below the letter sat a picture with stick people and a house with a goofy looking sun floating in the sky. Remus shook his head. Another sad attempt to make Sirius believe him. And Chicken Pox didn't even sound like a real disease! Honestly, Sirius could make up anything…   
Remus looked at the presents that he had also found on his front stoop. They would probably blow up if he opened them. Remus threw them in the garbage without even opening them, along with the torn up pieces of the letter…

~*~

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" Sang Sirius, Cameron, and Sandy. Harry had a wide grin on his face, and a paper crown that he'd made on his head. Harry had insisted on making all of the decorations for his party, so there were bits of paper taped to various places on the walls, and a banner that was made with blue paper stuck together and said "HAPEE BERTHDAE HARRY!" 

They were sitting in Harry and Sirius' kitchen, the lights were off, and a chocolate cake with five candles was sitting in front of the grinning five-year-old. Sirius had attempted to make a cake with magic, but he somehow set the frosting on fire and the whole thing went up in smoke. 

"Happy Birthday dear Harry! Happy Birthday to YYYOOOUUUU!" 

"Make a wish Harry," Cameron said, clapping her small hands together. 

Harry closed his eyes and then blew out all of his candles, sending them all into complete darkness. 

Cameron and Sandy cheered, while Sirius stumbled around, looking for the light switch. Once he had found the switch, Sirius and Sandy dished out cake to the two kids, who immediately began to stuff it in their mouths ("Cameron! Use your fork! No! Turn it right-side up!"). Sirius and Sandy took a small piece each, and watched as Harry and Cameron giggled about something that only five-year olds seemed to understand.

Sirius and Sandy had remained friends, even though Sandy was not at all sexually interested in him at all. Sandy actually sort of reminded him of Lily, in some odd, twisted sort of way. Perhaps it was the way she smiled, or laughed, he didn't know. Somehow he also knew, that if they did become a couple, it wouldn't last too long. Not many people knew, but Sirius and Lily had gone out a couple of times before she fell in love with James. Needless to say, it didn't work out too well. They were too good of friends and knew too much about each other.

"Sirius! Can I open presents now!" Harry asked. He had some frosting on his nose, and the remainder of his cake didn't appear to be eaten, just spread messily around his plate. 

"Sure, birthday boy," Sirius grinned, grabbing a napkin to wipe the frosting off of his godson's nose. Harry and Cameron screamed happily and went dashing out into the living room, where a small pile of presents sat on the coffee table.   
"Wait!" Sandy called. "Let me get the camera!"

Well, Sandy had just enough time to get the camera, before Harry started to rip the presents open (with the help of Cameron). Minutes later the floor was strewn with torn up wrapping paper. Cameron had some bows and ribbons from the presents, balancing on her head. Harry was playing with a Muggle action figure that Sirius had gotten him, while Cameron provided the sound affects and played with him with her doll. 

Sirius attempted to clean up the messy kitchen table, while Sandy took pictures of Harry and Cameron playing. 

It was nine o'clock before Sandy decided that it was time to be leaving. Cameron was sprawled out on the floor, her doll in one of her hands, and some ribbons still in her hair. Harry was leaning against the couch, his crown lopsided. 

"Cammy-bunny!" Sandy said softly, nudging her daughter. "It's time to go home and go to bed."

"But I'm not… tired," Cameron mumbled, not bothering to open her eyes. 

"Harry, you should get to bed soon as well," Sirius said from the kitchen, as he dried a few of the plates.

"I'm not tired either…"

"Thanks for having us, Sirius," Sandy said, picking up her daughter from the floor. 

"Thank you for coming," Sirius said. "Hope to see you soon!"

"Happy birthday Harry!" Sandy said. Cameron mumbled something as well, before dropping her head onto her mother's shoulder and dozing off again. 

Harry had already fallen asleep and didn't respond. 

After the two of them had Disapparated away, Sirius walked out into the living room and picked his godson up, carrying him to his room. A minute later Harry was dressed in his bedclothes and tucked into bed. Sirius planted a light kiss on the top of his head and started to leave before he heard Harry's voice mutter, "Siri? Tomorrow will you tell me…about… my… par…"

Harry had slipped into slumber before he could finish the question, but Sirius still knew what he meant to say. 

~*~

Harry bounded into the kitchen the next day, full of his usual energy. He plopped down in his usual chair and looked up at Sirius expectantly. 

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sirius asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee. 

"Are ya gonna tell me?" Harry replied, not answering Sirius' question. "About my parents?"

Sirius winced slightly. He knew Harry was practically desperate to know about his family, and Sirius had told him lots about his family, just not… this… 

He sighed and sipped his coffee. "Are you sure you want to know everything now, Harry?" 

"Yes!" Harry said, his eyes getting wide. "Tell me!"  
Sirius turned and pulled down a half-eaten box of Cheerios from the shelf. He didn't say anything while he prepared Harry's breakfast, and remained silent until he set the cereal in front of Harry. Then he sat down across from Harry and began to explain…

Remus ran his fingers lightly over the picture frame. It was the picture that they had taken right before seventh year, while they were getting on the train to go to Hogwarts. Somehow they managed to squeeze 5 people into one train window, and took their picture. It was the Marauder's and Lily, all waving and grinning as James' father took the picture. Sirius was currently crossing his eyes and making bunny ears on Peter. They were so care free and innocent (Except for maybe Sirius)… why did things have to change? And now, nearly four years after Lily, James, and Harry's deaths, Sirius was no where to be found but still found time to annoy him with absurd letters, and Peter and him were going on a double-date. 

Could it get any worse?  


Harry just stared at the table, with his eyes open wide and a sort of blank look on his face. Sirius sipped his coffee and watched his godson. 

"What're you thinking, Harry?" Sirius asked slowly, placing his cup on the table. 

Harry gulped and hesitantly opened his mouth. "I-I killed Voldemort?"

"No, Harry. I don't think he's actually dead. He's just… disappeared," Sirius sighed, running a hand through his black hair. 

"So he might come back some day?" Harry asked, his eyes getting even wider.

Sirius paused. "Yes, he might. But don't worry about that now."

"Will he try and kill me?" Harry's lower lip trembled.

"Harry, I don't know," Sirius said. "But you're safe with me. I'll take care of you. Don't worry."

"But everyone thinks you betrayed Mummy and Daddy!" Harry said, his voice getting panicky. "They'll try and find you and take me away! I don't want to go away, Sirius!"

"Harry, you won't go away!" Sirius said, standing up. He hurriedly scooped his godson up into a hug. 

"I don't want-"

"Shh… Harry, I know, I know…" Sirius mumbled, giving his godson a tight squeeze. "Voldemort isn't back yet. We don't have to worry about that." 

Harry pulled back for a moment and stared at his godfather with watery emerald eyes. 

"Will I go to Hogwarts and learn magic, so I can fight him?" Harry asked softly. 

"I don't know."

"Can you teach me, Sirius?"

Sirius looked taken aback. Harry was asking him to teach him magic? He was five years old! He was far too young to be learning magic, especially the defense magic that he probably wanted to learn.   
"Harry, I-"

"Please! I'll be really careful and I won't blow anything up, like you do in the kitchen," Harry begged. 

"And where will you get a wand?" Sirius asked, standing up and crossing his arms. 

"We could go to Diagon Alley and get one!" Harry said, looking rather excited about the idea.

"And what would happen if someone recognized us? You could be taken away, like you said."

"We could wear disguises!"

"We need magic to make a good disguise, and you don't have a wand!"

"You do."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Harry, you're not getting a wand yet."

"Can I use yours, then?"

"Harry, no!"   
"Please Sirius! I really want to learn!" Harry jutted out his lower lip and open his eyes really wide. "Pwease?"

"Harry I-"

"PWEASE!"

Sirius gave an exasperated sigh. "…All right."

"Yay! Let's go!" Harry started to run out of the kitchen, but Sirius grabbed him. 

"Whoa, we're not going today!" Sirius said. "We'll go in two days. August 3rd. Now, go get ready for daycare."

~*~

Remus walked down the crowded street, pushing past wizards and witches, in order to get to the Leaky Cauldron. It was August 3rd, the day of the double date. Remus glanced at his watch, before entering the small pub. 

Sirius Black and Harry Potter walked into the Leaky Cauldron from the door that led out to the Muggle World. They had Apparated there just moments before. Harry was dressed in ordinary muggle clothes, while Sirius was dressed like a normal wizard, in robes. He also had a hat on his head, with a wide brim that covered part of his face when he wanted it to. Harry had been transfigured, and now had red hair, and bright blue eyes. Sirius himself had sort of strawberry blonde hair and was wearing dark glasses, to hide his eyes. 

"Now, er… Steven. Do you remember what I told you to say to Mr. Ollivander?"

"Yep!" Harry said. 

"Good." Sirius took the boy by the hand and walked him through the pub, and out into Diagon Alley. He didn't even notice the two wizards who were sitting across from each other, who he used to go to school with… 

"Peter! How're you doing?" Remus asked, leaning across the table. 

"Wonderful, my friend," Peter said, grinning. "The girls should be here at any minute. Meanwhile, why don't you fill me in on what's been going on in your life?"

Remus gave a short laugh. "What life?"

Neither of them noticed the tall man and the five-year old boy who disappeared through the back door. 

Harry was utterly enthralled with his new surroundings. He hadn't been in the Wizarding world since he was an infant, and of course he didn't have many memories of that period of time. Harry was turning his head right and left, looking at the different store windows.   
"Sir-er… Daddy!" Harry said, catching himself. "Look! A broom!"

"Yep," Sirius replied, keeping an eye on the few people who were staring that them. Harry squealed with delight as he saw the owls. 

"Can we get one!?"

"Not right now, Steven," Sirius replied. "Let's go to Gringotts and then you can get your wand."

"Yay! My wand!"

  
Sirius and Harry walked up to the white building, and walked inside. Harry was staring at the goblins, and hid behind Sirius as he went to exchange Muggle money for Wizard money. The goblins stared at him with its piercing eyes. Then it handed over the Wizard money in a small bag, without saying anything. They glared at him as he took Harry by the hand and they walked out. 

"All right, Ollivander's is right over there," Sirius pointed. "I'll be two doors down at Flourish and Blotts. You know what you're supposed to say. Come straight to the Flourish and Blotts as soon as you're over. Here's some money. That should be enough."

Sirius clapped Harry on the shoulder and Harry grinned, before running into the wand store. It was quiet, almost like a library. 

"Hello?" Harry called. "Is anyone in here?" An instant later a man appeared behind the store desk. 

"Hi!" Harry said. "My name's Steven. My mommy says that I'm a big boy, and I can buy my own wand!" 

The man behind the counter grinned, his gray eyes squinting slightly. "Well, my boy. Let's find out what wand suits you."

Ollivander disappeared and reappeared at the counter, holding a box. He opened it and inside was a wand.   
"13 inches, Oak and phoenix feather, try it out-" 

Harry uncertainly gave the wand a wave, but before anything really happened the wand was snatched out of his hand. 

"No, no, that won't do-" Ollivander said. Harry was watching the man, his eyes wide. "Here, try this wand-" 

Harry gave that a wand and it was snatched away from him.

Fifteen more wands later, the five-year old was getting frustrated.   
"Why can't the wands make up their minds!" Harry exclaimed. Ollivander gave a short laugh as he pulled down another box. 

"This one's a long-shot, but we might as well try it. Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches-"

Harry gave that wand a short wave and golden sparks went shooting out of the wand. 

"Oh brilliant! Quite wonderful, yes… but… odd…"

Harry was too excited to listen to Ollivander. "Yay! My wand decided!" 

Ollivander was staring at him curiously, before taking the wand out of the boy's hand and wrapping it up for him. He didn't say anything else besides how much it cost, before Harry left the shop. 

The date couldn't have been worse. Peter's girlfriend was… well… talented. She managed to shoot milk from her nose three times, completely drenching their food. She could also take a noodle and put it though her mouth and up her nose, and pulling it back and forth. She talked for five minutes about how she was able to do this. Remus' date wasn't much better. She was quiet the whole time, and nearly had an asthma attack when she met Remus. Now she was just staring at her plate, not exactly touching her food. 

Remus was trying to send get-me-out-of-here-vibes to Peter, but it didn't seem to be working, because he kept starting up new conversations. 

"Er, will you excuse me? I have to go to the bathroom," Remus said, standing up. Peter waved him away, while Remus escaped from that living hell. 

Harry went bounding up to Sirius, who was already standing outside of the bookstore, waiting for him. 

"What to you so long, kiddo?" Sirius asked. 

"My wand wouldn't decide," Harry said simply. "But I got one! It's made of Holly and phonis feather."

"I think you mean phoenix."

"Yeah! That's it!"

"Come on, let's get out of here," Sirius said, grasping Harry by the shoulder. "People have been giving me bad looks since I got here. I think they're a bit suspicious."

"What'd you get?" Harry asked, pointing at the bags that Sirius clutched in his hands. 

"Some books," Sirius said simply. "Some are for you. You can look at them when we get home."

"Let's hurry then!" 

The two of them walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. The doorway closed behind them as they passed. They walked into the Leaky Cauldron, and were nearly knocked over by the men's room door opening right in front of them. 

"Sorry," Sirius said, backing up. 

"No, it was my faul-" Remus said, before stopping in mid-sentence. Even though they hadn't met in four years, Remus instantly recognized him. 

"_Black_," Remus hissed, while going for his wand. 


	7. Caught, or not

A.N. Sorry for taking too long to post this chapter. I had a major case of writer's block and I had LOADS of homework. I still have some to do, but I set aside some time to finish this. Enjoy, and please review.

Mal

****

SIRIUS BLACK SPOTTED AT LEAKY CAULDRON

Mr. Remus Loopin, a Professor at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nearly ran into the infamous Sirius Black, who sent two of his best friends to their death nearly 4 years ago before kidnapping, abusing, and throwing their son (his godson) off of a cliff in England. Sirius Black has been on the run since then, and this is the first time he has been spotted since that Halloween night. From the description that Loopin gave, Sirius Black looked in quite good health. However, before Loopin could so much as reached for his wand, Black reached behind himself grabbed something and Disapparated. The Ministry is unsure of where he went, and declined further comment. There is also no idea of what he grabbed. Some people have theorized that it as a large parcel of some sort, while other people think that it was a rather short person. 

Remus Lupin looked over the article in disgust. 

"God damn reporters. Can't even get my name right. Not that it matters really." He threw the Daily Prophet onto his small kitchen table and took a sip of his tea. Peter had been the one to tell him about the article, but frankly he would have been happier not to know about it. He had already gotten a few owls from a few old classmates, including Professor Snape, who had some sarcastic comments on the matter. Remus took another sip of his tea, before the door burst open yet again. Peter had returned. 

"Remus! My friend!" Peter said exuberantly. "I never got to ask you, what with Black and whatnot… What'd you think of the date?" 

Remus gave a small smile, and actually toyed with the idea of telling Peter the truth. "It was…er… nice?"

"I told you that her friend was cute. Wasn't she cute?"

"Sure… why not…"

Peter frowned. "You didn't like her?"

"No! It's not that… she's just a tad…too quiet."

"Oh yeah, I noticed that too…" Peter said, trailing off. "Well, there's always this other girl-"

"NO!" Remus said quickly. "I mean… no, that won't be necessary. I'm not ready for a relationship right now…"

"Really, Remus? When are you going to settle down, have a few kids and… oh… sorry."

Remus had raised one of his eyebrows at him. Peter had forgotten that werewolves weren't allowed to have kids, for that trait could be passed through genes. 

"Well, you can adopt!" Peter said, trying to make Remus feel slightly better. 

"Yeah, sure Peter," Remus said, picking up the newspaper again and looking at the picture. It was of the back entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, with Aurors looking all about." 

"Hey, what'd you think of the article?" Peter asked, nudging Remus in the side. "Pretty good, eh? I mean, there's the little spelling mishap, but-"

"Look Peter, I really would rather not talk about it," Remus said. 

"Oh… sure! Well, do you want to go see a Quidditch game then?"

Remus smiled. "Sure. Anything to get my mind off of Black."

~*~

Harry didn't seem to understand had gone on at the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius didn't even understand himself… Remus was supposed to trust him… Had he even gotten all of those letters? Sirius sighed and sat down on the chair. He knew that they had to move, in case his magical signature was tracked here. Luckily that took a little while…

"Harry, go pack your things," Sirius said, putting his head in his hands and drumming his fingers against his forehead. 

"But Sirius- I want to practice magic!" 

"Harry, go pack now! You can practice later."

There was a grumbling sound from Harry's room and then the door slamming. Sirius sighed and stood up, taking out some of the things from the Flourish and Blotts bag. There was _The_ _Standard Book of Spells Grade 1_ that Sirius knew was used for pretty much every year at Hogwarts. There were also a few other books that would help Harry with his magic, as well as a Magical Cooking book for Sirius. He had also picked up two newspapers. One for him, and one for Sandy. 

There were some loud thumping sounds from Harry's room. 

"Are you packing!?"  
"Yes! I'm packing!" 

"Good."   
Sirius stood up and dropped one of the books on the table, before pulling out his wand, conjuring up a box and starting to put things into it. It was nearly seven when Harry came out of his room, his wand clutched tightly in his hands. 

"When's dinner going to be ready?" Harry asked. 

"I don't know."

"… are we going to eat?"

"Yes. Just not right now."

"When?"

"When you're done packing your room."

"I am done." Sirius looked at the small boy, who was looking at his wand, turning it over in his hands. 

"You're done already?"

"We move so much that I've gotten rather fast at it," Harry said softly. He looked up at Sirius with his big green eyes. "Siri? Why was Moony mad at us?"

Sirius sighed. "He was confused, Harry."

"Are we going to go un-confuse him?"

"…No, Harry. We're not."

~*~

Sirius didn't even know where they were going to go. Harry and him were all packed by the next day and Sirius shrunk everything before Disapparating to someplace in America. He wasn't even sure of where he was, but he un-shrunk his car and the two of them drove off. Harry had insisted of keeping his wand and a book that he had gotten with him. He was now attempting to read it, even though he was only five. 

"L-U-M-O-S," Harry spelled out. "Lummoos."

"No Harry, that's not it," Sirius said, looking over at his godson, who was frowning slightly. "It's _Lumos_." 

"_Lumos_!" Harry repeated, and the tip of his wand lit with a feeble light. "Look Sirius! I did it! I did magic!" 

"That's great Harry!" Sirius said, reaching over and clapping Harry on the shoulder, keeping one hand on the steering wheel. "Now try this. _Nox_!"

Harry repeated what his godfather said and the little light went out. 

"It's gone!"

"Yep. Practice those two spells for a while, then I'll tell you some more."

Harry practiced those two spells until it was dark, before the flickering light became too distracting and Sirius told him to stop. Harry slipped into slumber before the full moon appeared high in the sky. 

~*~

Remus groaned and rolled over. He could smell fresh bacon sizzling in the kitchen, and Peter must've been there. Remus rubbed his eyes, trying to remember the events of the previous night… He had transformed… he had run around… his memory ended there. He vaguely remembered Peter being there… 

He attempted to sit up and was met by sore muscles. He flopped back down in pain. 

"Peter!" Remus said hoarsely. "_Peter_!"

"Coming!" 

A minute later Peter appeared, wearing an apron that said, 'Kiss the Cook" and holding a scraper in his other hand. 

"I'd rather not kiss you," Remus said, giving a small smile. "What's going on?"

Peter gave a smile and said, "Laurenin and I came over today to help you out. You know how you're like after a full moon…"

"I've made do before. I can do fine on my own," Remus said, trying to sit up again. Really, he didn't do very well. He just didn't want Laurenin, Peter's girlfriend there.

"Nonsense! You just sit back and relax. We've got everything under control!"

Remus sighed and flopped back onto his bed, not happy at all. 

~*~

Sirius and Harry drove into the shabby motel parking lot. Harry was still asleep, and his head was sort of slumped to the side. Sirius unbuckled his seatbelt and picked the boy up. After getting a room from the woman wearing a tube top and WAY too much makeup, he carried his godson and put him down on the sunken couch in the room. He covered his godson with a blanket he found, before crawling into the small bed and falling asleep himself. 

Sirius awoke the next morning to a light blinking on and off. It must've been early, because the sun hadn't fully risen. He sat up and looked over at the couch. Harry was sitting under his blanket, with his wand in front of him. He could hear Harry whispering, "_Lumos_! _Nox_!" 

"Harry…" Sirius said. "Are you up already?"

There was a shuffling sound and Harry's head appeared out from under the blanket. "Yes."

Sirius groaned and rolled out of bed. "We'd probably get an early start anyway. Come on, get dressed. We'll grab some breakfast on the way out."

"Cheerios?"

"Sure, why not."

About twenty minutes later they were back on the highway with a full gallon of gas and Harry munching on Cheerios straight from the box and drinking orange juice from a box. 

"Harry! Do you see that bird?!" Sirius said, pointing up at the creature that flew over them. 

"Where!" Harry exclaimed, looking around wildly. "Where!"

"It's over there!" Sirius said. "I think it's a bald eagle!

"I don't see it!" Harry exclaimed. 

Sirius pointed with one hand, while holding the steering wheel with the other. "It's right there!"

Harry squinted. "I don't see it!"

Sirius looked questioningly over at Harry. 

"Harry, what're the letters on that sign?" Sirius now pointed at the sign ahead that said 'Route 66'. 

Harry squinted. "O…B…"

At the next town that they stopped in Sirius took Harry to a doctors office. Harry got a physical as well as an eye exam. They spent the night in a small bed and breakfast, and two days later Harry walked out of the optometrist's office with a new pair of glasses. 


	8. Home on the Range

A.N. Sorry for the delay! I started writing this about 3 or so days after I posted the 16th chapter of HPDM-AV, so I'm starting to get better at managing my time. *sighs * I wish it was summer again. Please review! 

Malena

"HARRY! GET AWAY FROM THAT COW!"

"Sirius! It's perfectly nice!"

"HARRY!" 

"I'm coming…" The eight year old grumbled and walked away from the fence, where he had been patting the friendly bovine. "Why can't I pat the cow?"

"Because it's not our cow," Sirius said. "Go practice some of your transfiguration. But don't be seen by the Muggles!" 

"Can we get a cow?" Harry asked, giving a wicked grin. 

"If you can transfigure that rock into a cow, you can keep it," Sirius replied, grabbing a few suitcases out of the back of his car. 

"Really?!"

"No. Now get your things from the car. Let's go check out the house."

They had just arrived somewhere out in the middle of no where, as far as Harry was concerned. They had just moved from Paris, where he had finished second grade. He had moved twice during the school year, and had to learn both French and Spanish so he could attend regular school with all of the other children. But then again, he was taking classes that no other child his age was supposed to be taking. 

Harry's magical education had continued, even though Sirius had just expected it to stop after they finished _The Standard Book of Spells- Grade 1._ Sirius had found his godson begging him to get the next book and other books on Potions, History, and Transfiguration. Annoyed with Harry's begging, Sirius sent away for the books, and then promptly moved so they couldn't be traced. 

On the car ride to their new location, Harry had been flipping through A History of Magic, a book that he had already read twice, and was getting quite bored of. 

"Are there any magic book stores here?" Harry asked, as he grabbed one of his suitcases and walked toward the run-down looking house that sat on the edge of a farm. 

"I don't know Harry."

"When can we go to town and see?"

"Tomorrow maybe, after we get settled in."

"What're we going to eat for supper?"

"Macaroni and Cheese."

"Oh no, not that boxed stuff again?" Harry said.

"Yes, but it's probably only for tonight," Sirius said hastily. "Tomorrow we'll have gone to the grocery store and gotten more."

"Do we have any Cheerios?"

"Yes, yes, they're in the box labeled 'Kitchen'. But you're going to have to un-shrink it first." 

Sirius took out a key and opened the front door to the house. As they went inside, the first thing they saw was lots of dust. The house was already furnished, in an old fashioned sort of way, and everything seemed to be covered with a heavy layer of dust. 

"Well, this will be nice to clean up," Sirius said sarcastically, dropping his suitcase and going to look in the kitchen. As Sirius examined the broken down refrigerator he heard a tremendous _whoosh_! All of a sudden a huge wind went zooming through the kitchen and blew past Sirius, carrying all of the dust with it, and went out the open window.

Sirius stared as the dust flew into the sky, and away. He walked slowly back into the room and found Harry with his wand out, and grinning sheepishly. 

"Whoops," he said, giving a short laugh.

"And, what was that?" Sirius asked, leaning up against the doorframe. 

"Banishing charm," Harry said, pocketing his wand. "Well… then…. I'm going to go choose a room and unpack." 

With one eyebrow raised, Sirius watched his godson walk up the stairs, his suitcase floating after him.

~*~

Sirius was putting the cheese powder onto the noodles when he heard a knock, and someone calling, "YOO HOO!"

Harry looked up from where he was reading, and jumped up, running to answer the door. They had never gotten many visitors, but Harry still loved meeting new people. Now that they had just moved away from all of Harry's school friends, he was desperate to make new ones. 

"Hi!" Harry said cheerfully, whipping the door open.

"Harry, didn't I tell you not to open the door without finding out who it is first!" Sirius said, wiping his hands and walking into the living room. There was a woman standing there, wearing a sleeveless, flowery, dress. She looked around forty years old, and her hair was pulled up into a bun. 

"Oh, no one does that around here," said the woman. "So few people that no one gets many visitors anyway."

"Well, we move around a lot," Sirius said, ruffling Harry's hair. "I just want to teach him good skills in case we move to another big city."

"That's so nice. Your son is very fortunate to have a caring father like you."

"He's not my dad, he's my godfather," Harry said before Sirius could stop him. "My name's Harry. What's yours."

"Harry, don't ask the poor woman so many questions," Sirius said, laughing uneasily. "I'm sorry, my name is… Siri."

"Siri, is that English?" The woman said. "I noticed you had sort of an English accent. You must've spent a lot of time in the states though, because it's starting to fade."

"Yes, yes it is," Sirius lied quickly. 

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Siri…"

"Oh, er, my last name's… White."

"Siri White, okay. My name is Jean. Jean Louise Robin. We live next door to you." 

"Is that cow yours?" Harry asked. 

"There are lots of cows in this part," Jean said, smiling. "But it most likely was, I reckon."

"Well, it was certainly nice to meet you Ms. Robin," Sirius said, shaking her hand. 

"Actually I came over to ask you a question," Jean said, smiling widely. "Would you like to come over for dinner. We have enough food to feed a whole army."

"Well we-"

"Sure!" Harry exclaimed. "Do you have any kids."

"Why yes, we do," Jean said, looking down at Harry. "Just come over when you're ready." 

While Jean gave Sirius directions, Harry went up and changed out of his dirty clothes. 

Sirius sat and waited for him to return downstairs. 

"Come on Sirius! Let's go!" Harry said as he rushed forward to open the door and leave. 

"Wait a minute," Sirius said, shutting the door before Harry could get outside. "First we need to talk." 

"What's the matter?" 

"Sit."

Harry took a seat, staring at his godfather who sat down across from him.

"Harry, first we need to talk about some safety rules," Sirius said sternly. "You know I don't like it when you answer the door when you don't know who it is."

"I know…." Harry said, lowering his eyes to the floor. 

"It could have been anyone! Do you want to get caught?"

"No…"

"Always ask 'who is it' before you answer the door." 

"Yes Sirius."

Harry was starting to get that droning tone to his voice that he got when he was bored. Sirius raised his eyebrow and then said, "If you do it again you'll be grounded for a week, _without_ your wand."

Harry's eyes got wide and he looked up at Sirius. "But-but Sirius-"

"Make sure you don't open the door to strangers then," Sirius said. 

"Alright, alright, can we go now?"

"That's another thing," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair and observing Harry. "The next time someone asks if you want to go over for dinner, check with me first. Honestly Harry, tonight is _not_ a good night to go out to meet the neighbors. And from now on don't tell them I'm your godfather. We could get in weird situations that way."

"But Jean was really nice and she didn't seem to care that I was your godson!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled Harry up. "Come on. Let's go to dinner. And leave your wand at home!"

~*~

Remus watched as Peter slumped around their living room, a sad look on his face. "I can't believe she broke up with me," Peter said. "I thought this was going to be the one."

"You thought the one before her was the "one" too," Remus said, turning back to his newspaper. "And the one before that." 

"But this one _felt_ right," Peter said, plopping into a chair. 

"Peter, be happy that you are at least going on dates," Remus said. "I haven't gone on a date in years. Of course, I'm away most of the year… but still!"

"You work too much," Peter mumbled. "When are you going to enjoy life?"

"I did enjoy life. Hogwarts was the best seven years anyone could have. Then after we left there, everything seemed to go downhill."

"Any more news on Black?" 

Remus sighed. "None. It's like he disappeared again. We don't even have a clue to where he's hiding…."

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair. 

"Remus?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think I'm going bald?" Peter said, feeling his hair. Remus looked over at Peter's head. There were a few patches that looked a little less than full.

"Yeah, maybe a little."

Peter sighed in exasperation. "I should have known. My grandfather on my mother's side was bald as an egg."

"So get some hair cream from Diagon Alley tonight," Remus suggested.

"Nah, I can't tonight. I have a different errand to run, and I probably won't be back till late. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow…" 

~*~

Sirius sipped his glass of wine as he watched Harry play with the children that lived next door. They were playing with some action figures that Harry didn't seem to interested in, but pretended to be entertained by them anyway. The two little boys were creating sound effects for the fire trucks and the G.I. Joe's, shooting up the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sirius watched as Harry sighed and asked if they could go play something else. 

"Why'dja wanna do that?" Asked one of the boys, who was about six. "Ain't nothing interestin' out here 'cept the animals." 

"Can we go see them?" Harry asked. 

"MA! WE'RE GONNA GO SEE THE ANIMALS!" Yelled the older kid, who was nine. "C'mon Harry, follow us."

Sirius watched as his godson went running after the two boys. 

"So Siri," said the father of the two boys, Roy. "I hear you're Harry's godfather. How'd it come by that you're taking care of him?"

"Oh…" Sirius said. "Well, Harry's parents died when he was one… so I'm taking care of him now."

"Was it aliens?" Roy asked, his eyes getting wide. "I betcha it was aliens, wasn't it?"

"Er… no, it was…. A double case of pneumonia gone awry after a camping trip."

"Don't know what pneumonia has to do with rye bread, but I'm sure it just worsened their illness," replied Roy. "But I betcha that it all leads back to the government and their secret hiding of alien life…"

Harry, Jake, the six-year old, and Mark, the nine-year old, ran across the field until they reached the barn. 

"Some of the animals might be sleeping, and try not to spook the horses," Mark said as he pulled open the barn door. Harry nodded eagerly and looked around the dark barn. He could see several large eyes staring at him, and some of the sheep pigs snorted. 

"That there's Tillie," said Jake, pointing to one of the pigs. "She's gonna have piglets real soon." 

"Wow… how many?" 

"We don't know how many," Mark said, as if Harry was being stupid on purpose. "Over here is one of our horses, Kelly." 

There was a loud scratching sound from somewhere in the barn, causing Harry to jump. 

"What was that?" Harry asked. 

"Probably one of the animals, like a goat or sumtin'," said Jake. "Come on, let me show you-"

Harry didn't hear the rest of what Jake said, for at that moment a rat scurried out from under the hay that covered part of the ground. Harry stared at the rat… it looked sort of familiar…

Sirius jumped slightly when the backdoor of the house burst open and Jake and Mark came running in. 

"Momma! Something's wrong with Harry! He fainted or something!" 


	9. Rats!

A.N. I'd like to say that I am deeply saddened by the recent death of Richard Harris (A.K.A. Albus Dumbledore) 

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! 

Malena

Sirius bolted across the yard, towards the barn. If anything happened to Harry… he didn't want to think about it…

As he wrenched the door open he heard a popping sound. The room was dark, and there were animals panicking everywhere. He could see a small figure lying on the ground, near some of the pens. 

"Harry!" Sirius yelled, running over to the boy. He pulled Harry into a sitting position and leaned him against his chest. Harry's eyes were closed, but he was breathing.

"Harry, speak to me!" Sirius said, jostling Harry slightly. "C'mon Harry."

He didn't respond. 

Sirius scooped the boy up, and turned around, finding the whole family there. Sirius quickly muttered something about allergies, before running out of the house. When he was out of range, he Disapparated to their new house.

~*~

Peter Pettigrew growled to himself as he stomped around his house. That bastard child had ruined his plans again! Harry was supposed to be dead years ago, and he couldn't let him live any longer than necessary. 

It had taken it ages to find out where Black and that child were living. Now they were bound to move almost immediately and he would have to find out where they are all over again… Peter had to have Potter killed before Voldemort came back. Peter knew he was still out there somewhere… he was going to return some day, and if he found that Potter had survived, even with several of his Death Eaters still in the Wizarding world… he was going to be livid. 

Peter cursed to himself and slammed his hand down on the kitchen table, making the empty coffee glass he had left there rattle. He ran a hand through his hair, only to find several of them come out of his scalp. And to top it all off, he was going bald!

Remus Lupin walked up the corridor to Professor Dumbledore's office. Something was wrong, and he knew it. His wolf instincts were kicking in, and he could feel something in the air. 

Although most of the teachers had retreated to wherever they go during the summer, Remus knew that Dumbledore would still be here.

Before he could knock on the doors he heard Dumbledore's voice from inside. 

"Come in Remus."

Then the doors opened without him so much as moving. Remus slowly took a step into the room, only to find him several people staring at him.

"Hello Remus," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "May we help you with something?"

Remus looked around to see if he recognized anyone. Was that Alastor Moody? And… Arabella Figg? Something had to be wrong.

"I was… just coming to chat," Remus said, forcing a smile.

"Don't worry Mr. _Lupin_," Moody growled. "We felt it too."

"Something's gone wrong in the world…" Arabella said quietly. "Several of the centaurs are restless."

"Care to give any insight?" Asked someone whom Remus didn't recognize.

"I just… felt something…" Remus said slowly. 

"Well, that was informative," sneered someone else. Remus turned, and found he was staring at Lucius Malfoy. Next to him was a small boy.

"Might as well escape while you can," Lucius laughed slightly, a laugh so cold that it sent shivers down Remus' spine. "These people will talk your ears off if you don't get away soon."

"Mr. Malfoy here was just coming to talk about his son," Albus said lightly, ignoring Moody's growls. "Have you met his son, Draco? He will be attending Hogwarts in a few years."

"No," Remus said, forcing another smile. "I haven't had the pleasure." 

"Don't get any ideas, Lupin," Lucius snarled. "If you're still teaching here I might just reconsider sending Draco here."

The boy, who looked to be about 7 or 8 years old, glared up at Remus in the exact same fashion of his father. Surely a Slytherin… 

Remus' smile faded and he turned to Dumbledore. Moody and one of the other wizards were arguing with each other, while a few of the other people just watched in interest.

"I tell you something is going to happen. It might not be soon, and it might be. We can't tell!" Moody yelled.

"Honestly Alastor, we have no definite proof that _anything_ is going to happen!" Yelled the wizard. "It's just a silly feeling in the pit of our stomachs! _We have no proof_!"

"Xavier, Alastor, please calm down," Dumbledore said, looking thoroughly amused. "I'm afraid that we must wrap up our discussion, for Mr. Malfoy seems to be getting very impatient. I bid all of you good day." 

The small group walked outside, including Lupin, who hadn't even had a chance to talk to Dumbledore. 

"I don't care what Dumbledore says," Moody growled. "Something's up. There's an unusual amount of Dark Magic going on, and I'm going to find out what's going on."

Sirius put Harry's limp form on the living room couch of their new home. The boy was still unconscious and was showing no sign of waking. Sirius gently shook his godson's shoulders, trying to coax him awake. 

"Come on Harry, wake up…" Sirius sighed. "What on earth happened?" He added, more to himself than Harry. Sirius Summoned a blanket and covered Harry with it, then sat in a chair, and watched his godson all night. 

  
~*~

"Is he awake yet?"

"No."

"Is he awake yet?"

"No."

"Is he-"

"For the last time Cam! No! He's not awake yet!"

"…How 'bout now?"

Harry's eyes flickered open, and then he jumped back. Cameron's face was only inches away from his. 

"I think he's awake," Cameron said.

"Cameron?" Harry said groggily. "What're you doing here?"

"Sirius invited us after he said you were unconscious," the girl replied. "He was freaking out. I never heard his voice get so high and squea-"

"That's enough Cam," Sandy said. "Sirius! Harry's up!"

In an instant Sirius came skidding into the living room, before jumping over one of the chairs and falling to his knees beside Harry. 

"Are you alright?" Sirius asked desperately. 

"I'm fine," Harry said uncertainly. He sat up slightly, testing to see if his muscles worked. "Where are my glasses?"

"They're right here," Sirius said, putting them on Harry's face and nearly poking his godson in the eye. "Harry, what happened? In the barn?"

Harry stared at Sirius for a moment, before frowning and looking at the floor. 

"I was… I was in there with Jake and Mark. They were showing me one of the pigs," Harry said. "We heard a noise. Sort of a scratching."

"Do you know what it was?" 

"No. We thought it was a goat or something, but we weren't sure." Harry swallowed and continued. "Then, we saw this rat…"

Sirius's eyes got wide, before narrowing suddenly. "And?"

"The rat… the rat started to change," Harry replied slowly. "Mark and Jake had started going towards a different animal pen, and didn't see any of this… The rat grew bigger, and bigger… Until it turned into a man…"

Sirius put a hand to his mouth and stood up, starting to pace the room. 

"And then?"

"The man stared at me, smiled, and took out a wand from his pocket," Harry said. "That's the last thing I remember…"

"Damn him," Sirius muttered under his breath. 

"Do you… know this man?" Sandy asked. 

"Yes. It's Pettigrew." 

At those three words Harry's eyes got wide, and Sandy raised an eyebrow.   
"Pettigrew? As in the guy who betrayed Harry's parents?" Sandy asked skeptically. "How the hell did he find you?"

Sirius laughed bitterly. "You think I know? That little bas… er… rat works in ways I could never imagine."

"If you need somewhere to stay, you can come to our place," Cameron said instantly. 

Sirius gave a small smile. "That's alright. I think we'll stay here for a little while longer. He'll be expecting us to move, anyway."

~*~

Remus Lupin stared up at the night sky. He was on the concrete roof, lying on a towel. He took a deep breath. He could smell exhaust, and garbage from nearly everywhere…. Damn his good sense of smell. While he was teaching he could smell the pheromones off of the older students. Half of the time he walked around with an anti-smell charm on himself. Then he smelled something else… something closer to him than all of the other things.

"Remus?" 

Remus jumped as Peter's face appeared above his own. 

"Peter? What are you doing here?"

"I just decided to check in on you," Peter replied, giving a small smile. "Something wrong?"

"No…" Remus said uneasily. "I just had a weird feeling today…. Is something wrong?" 

"No," Peter said defensively. Remus raised an eyebrow and lightly sniffed. He smelled… pigs? And hay? Where had Peter been?

"How were your errands yesterday?" Remus asked lightly. 

"Oh? They were fine." 

"What'd you get?" Remus asked. 

"… shampoo."

"Shampoo?" 

"Yes…. To see if it would help my hair problem," Peter said. He never was a very good liar.

"What're you doing up here?" Peter asked, hastily changing the subject. 

"Just thinking," Remus replied. "Full moon's in a couple of days."

"You're right," Peter nodded. "Do you need me to be there? Because I might have a date…"

Remus laughed lightly. "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"All right," Peter said, blushing a little. "Well, I'm just going to go back downstairs…. It's really cold up here."

Remus watched as his friend turned and went inside. Peter had been lying to him, and Remus wanted to know why….

~*~

After a few months Mark and Jake, the two farm boys, had become Harry's friends. Every morning that summer Harry ran out the door and down the dust road to their house, where he would help the family collect chicken eggs and feed the animals. They had loads of cows and bulls, most of them wandering around the pasture, chewing on grass. 

The farm boys would show Harry everything that they could do on that farm and in the small town that was nearby, which to Harry, wasn't much. They would play Cops and Robbers in the fields and would go swimming down in a nearby stream. They would pester Sirius to take them into town so they could see a movie or go to the ice cream shop. Cameron came back to visit a few times, but found Mark and Jake's games absolutely absurd, and stole Harry away so they could talk about magic. Cameron had started learning when she was seven, two years after Harry had started his studies. However, Cameron never missed an opportunity to visit her favorite cow, Helen. Helen was a honey colored bovine, with huge brown eyes that Cameron had fallen in love with. Harry's favorite animals were the new baby pigs. 

Then, one seemingly normal day, Harry awoke quite early to the sound of trucks driving past. He jumped out of his old bed and looked out the window. The trucks were stopping at Mark and Jake's house. Harry pulled on some clothes and went dashing outside. Several men had gotten out of the truck and were talking to Roy. Roy made some gesture to the cattle that were outside chewing on their grass, before going back into the house. 

Harry ran across their yard and rang the doorbell. 

"Mr. Robin," Harry said. "What are they doing to the cows?" The men were now poking the cows with little sticks that made the cows angry and run away. 

"They're takin' them to the city," Roy said. 

"Why?"

"Because they need the animals to make food," Roy said. Harry's eyes got wide. 

"They're-they're going to-"

"Kill them? Yeah, dat's right. And we get a bundle of money for them." Harry just stared at Roy, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Is something wrong Harry?"

Harry just mouthed wordlessly at Roy, before turning on his heel and running all the way back to his house.

~*~

Sirius loaded a few more boxes into the back of their car. He looked around nervously and shrank them, before putting in more boxes. Harry was sitting in the front seat, holding a box on his lap. They were moving again, only a week after Harry had come running into his room, screaming that the animals were going to be killed. Scared the crap out of Sirius when Harry did so, for he was still asleep. 

And now they were leaving. Sirius had had enough of farm life, and Harry was going on about cruel and unusual punishment of animals all the time. He had only gone back to the farm once, and that was to say goodbye to Mark and Jake. 

Sirius got into the front seat and started the car. As they drove down the highway, neither of them said a word. 

"Where are we going now?" Harry asked quietly. 

"Monaco," Sirius said. "As soon as we're a safe distance away from here, we'll Apparate."

"Okay." 

Silence overwhelmed them again.

"Why don't you study your magic?"

"My books are in the back." 

Sirius looked over at the box that sat in Harry's lap. "Then what's in the box?"

Harry looked up at Sirius, before slowly opening the box. Sirius, after making sure there were no oncoming cars that he could crash into, looked inside.

Inside of the box was a little piglet. It was sleeping, making little snorting noises every time it breathed. Sirius slammed his foot on the brake. 

"Harry! Why do you have a pig!?"

"I don't want him to get killed!" Harry said earnestly. "Besides, Wilbur doesn't like it at the farm."

"Wilbur?" Sirius said. "Don't give it a name! If you give it a name you'll start getting attached to it."

"Wilbur's my pet," Harry said sternly. 

"That's it, we're going back to the farm and returning that thing before you get-"

"Sirius do you want Wilbur to get killed?" Harry said, looking up at Sirius with his eyes going wide. 

"Harry, I'm sure that Wilbur will be fine," Sirius sighed. "Come on, we're going back."

"No." 

"Yes."

"No."

"YES."

"NO!"

Sirius stared sternly down at Harry. "You're not having a pig for a pet. Imagine what Wilbur will think when we have pork for dinner."

"That's why I've also decided to become a vegetarian."

Sirius nearly fainted. 


	10. Cam, Harry, and the Whole Gang

"HARRY!" 

Harry rubbed his eyes groggily. He had fallen asleep on the couch again, reading. His glasses were hanging off one ear. Wilbur was asleep in his lap, and making little squealing noises in his sleep. 

"What?" Harry mumbled. 

"Where did I put the spatula?" Harry groaned and started to get up, shifting Wilbur. 

The eight-year old boy walked into their new kitchen. Sirius was attempting to make eggs, which were looking very well done on the stove. The spatula was no where to be found. Harry ran back out into the living room and snatched his wand off of the coffee table. 

"_Accio_ Spatula!" Harry said. An instant later the spatula came speeding into the living room, nearly hitting Wilbur. The little pig squealed and ran into Harry's bedroom.

"I've got it Sirius!" Harry yelled, running back into the kitchen. Suddenly there was a huge explosion, which sent Sirius flying back into the opposite wall. 

"SIRIUS!" Harry exclaimed, running over to his godfather, who was coughing loudly while trying to remain standing. "What did you do?"

"I just put bacon on the pan!" Sirius yelled back. "What happened?!"

"Oh…" Harry said in a small voice. He looked over at the stove that looked black and burnt. "Sorry…"

Sirius arched one eyebrow and stared intently at his godson. "What did you do?"

"I enchanted the pans…"

"To do _what_?" 

"To…explodewheneversomeoneputsmeatonthem." Harry immediately adverted his eyes to the floor. Sirius just stared in disbelief.

"Un-enchant it," Sirius said sternly. "And then go and get that pig of yours ready. You need to take him for a walk. Then come back immediately. No dallying in the park." 

"Alright." 

Sirius attempted to clean up the mess that the explosion had made, while Harry went out to walk his pig. He started scraping the ceiling with that newfound spatula, for there were bits of egg and bacon stuck to it. 

Harry had been studying magic so much lately… Sirius wasn't even sure if he could keep up with his godson. Harry had gone through all of his books, and would need new ones soon. That means a trip to Diagon Alley…. But they would go there after Harry started his new school… 

~*~

__

Dear Cam,

How are you doing? A few days ago I started the forth grade. I'm assuming that you did to, or you are going to soon. Or perhaps you already have. My teacher's name is Madame Carters. She's really nice. 

What have you been doing lately? How is Florida? You still live there, right? We just moved, but (as usual) I cannot tell you where. Let's just say that I'm brushing up on my Francais_. Sirius seems to be getting more nervous since we're closer to his old home and his old Ministry of Magic. I've been reading up on the Old Ministries, and there really weird. Really different from the United States, or any other sort of government I have heard of. _

Guess what! I got a pet! His name is Wilbur, and he's a pig (or cochon_.) I saved him from that evil farm that you liked. Sirius didn't want me to keep him, but I convinced him in the end. You'll really like him when you come to visit next. Sirius says that if we're still living here (wherever HERE is) at Christmas, you can come visit and meet Wilbur. He's really excited!_

Well, I have to go now, Sirius is still yelling at me about the pans I enchanted (I'll tell you later)

Au Revoir! (I think that's how you spell it…) 

Harry

  
** Dear Harry,**

You got a pet pig! AWESOME! I always wanted a pet but my mom says that I'm not responsible enough but I really am but she just thinks I'm a moron, which I'm not. It's so cool that you got a pet pig! Wilbur? Isn't that from Charlotte's Web? I've seen the movie but I haven't read the book yet. Do you have it? If you do can you send it to me?  
My magical studies have been going REALLY good. I learned the Stunning Spell and the Banishing Charm yesterday. I think that I need to get my own wand though, because it's getting a real pain to be using Mom's. Plus, there was the whole issue of me not knowing the countercurse to the Stunning Spell… took mom a while to wake up from that one.

Mom says that we might go on a trip to Hawaii during Christmas Break. Maybe you can come too! I've never been there before, have you?

Oh- Mom says hi to Sirius. 

I gotta go. Evil-mom of the south is calling.

Cam

~*~

Remus looked around his Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, at the first year Gryffindor students that were dutifully copying down their homework assignment. It was only the second week of school, and he could already tell which were the 'good' students and which were going to be 'problem' students. Percy Weasley, the latest of the Weasley clan to attend Hogwarts, had already written 10 pieces of parchment over the requirements. Oliver Wood, on the other hand, had talked incessantly about Quidditch through Remus' whole lesson. 

The bell rang, and he yelled above the crowd, "Mr. Weasley, please stay after class." 

Percy turned and stared at Remus with frightened eyes, and slowly approached the desk. 

"Yes Professor?" Percy said timidly. 

"No need to be scared," Remus laughed. "You're not in trouble." 

Saying this didn't seem to matter. Percy still looked as if Remus was coming at him with a sword.

"I just wish to request that you keep your essays no more than 2 pages over the required amount," Remus smiled. "It's becoming tiresome to spend hours grading one student's work."

"Yes sir," Percy said quickly. "Sorry sir."

"Don't be sorry. You had some very interesting points. Just… try and make it shorter."

"Yes sir." Percy stared up at Remus as if expecting something else.

"Er… you can go now." 

"Yes sir!" And with that Percy Weasley scurried out of the room. 

~*~

"Harry! Are you ready go go!?" Sirius yelled, pulling on his coat and pocketing his wand. He was in disguise as a blonde, short hared man with sunglasses. Harry was disguised too. Harry jumped down the last three stairs in the house and proclaimed that he was ready.

"Alright," Sirius said, clapping his godson on the shoulder. "Ready to Apparate?"

"When am I going to learn how to Apparate?"

"When you're older. Now, grab my coat and hold on." 

He reached up and grabbed onto his godfather. A second later, the house was empty.

And they were in Diagon Alley…

~*~

Sandy and Cameron walked past the magical stores, Cameron struggling against her mother's insistent grasp on her hand. 

"Mom! No one _else's_ mom holds their hand in public! What if someone sees me?!" 

"Cam, you don't know anyone in the Wizarding world. Who'll see you?"  
"That's not the _point_!" 

Cameron continued her struggle as Sandy pulled her onward. Sandy was wearing a hooded cloak that she had managed to get a hold of, and dark sunglasses as well. Cameron was just wearing Muggle clothes and stood out immensely. 

Sandy pulled her daughter into The Leaky Cauldron, and they took a booth in back. 

"Mom, what are we doing here?" Cam asked, while Sandy grabbed a discarded newspaper and leafed through it. 

"You'll find out," was all she said.

A minute later two people walked into the Leaky Cauldron. A boy and a man. The boy spotted the two of them and instantly ran over. 

"Cam!" he whispered loudly. 

The eight-year old girl stared bewilderedly at the blond boy. "Who are you?"

"It's me," the boy whispered, sitting down next to her. "Harry."

Cameron's eyes got wide and then she pulled the boy into a one armed hug and squeezed. 

"Cam! Can't… breath!"

"Hey," Sirius said, sitting down next to Sandy. 

"Hi." Sandy said shortly, looking around to see if anyone was staring. Meanwhile, Cam was attempting to give the squirming Harry a noogie. 

"Knock it off you two," Sandy said. "We don't want to draw attention."

"And if anyone asks," Sirius said, "You two are brother and sister."

Harry and Cam turned to look at each other. "EW!"

"Shhh!" 

Sirius turned and saw Tom, the bartender, approach. 

"What can I get you?" Tom asked. 

The four of them placed their orders and waited to make sure that no one was listening. 

"Did you find out anything?" Sirius said to Sandy. 

"Nope. The newspaper is shit-"

"Mom!" 

"Sorry sweetie. We ain't just going up to someone and say, 'so, any breaks on the Sirius Black and/or Sandy Dungerfeild cases?'" 

"I didn't expect us to go right up to someone and say-"

"Sirius, can I get an owl?" Harry asked, eyeing a tawny owl that was perched on a customer's shoulder. 

"Harry, you just got a pig. I don't think owls and pigs mix very well. And don't call me Sirius in public. Call me… call me anything but Sirius."

"Mom, can I get a pig too?" Sandy asked.

"No. Pigs aren't allowed in the house."

"Can I get an owl?"

"No."

"Everyone be quiet! Tom's coming back over." 

The food arrived, and they ate in silence.

~*~

Cam and Harry went running through the crowded streets. Sirius and Sandy had reluctantly allowed them to go wander around ("so long as you STAY TOGETHER!"). Cam stopped in front of the Broom store, and pressed her nose against the window. 

"These're all old models," Cam sighed, pushing away from the window. Harry looked in at the polished brooms that lay in the display case and then followed Cam down the street. There were wizards and witches everywhere, doing their shopping, talking avidly about whatever had been in the news, and complaining about Quidditch teams. Harry listened avidly, trying to catch whatever snippets of conversation he could. 

"Harry? Yoo-hoo! Harry!" Cam was waving her hand in front of his face. "Where are you, O' Abnormal one?" 

"I'm right here," Harry said, pushing her hand away. "C'mon, let's go to the book shop."

Flourish and Blotts was practically empty when Harry and Cam walked in. There were a series of enormous books on display that said _Enormous Magical Animals of Asia_ and some tiny ones called _Tiny Magical Animals of Australia_. Cam walked down the isle of Transfiguration books, while Harry walked over to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section. Several of the books looked dark and ominous. There were several bright and cheery books with the same author, Gilderoy Lockhart. 

Harry started to pull books off of the shelves, including _An Advanced Guide to Defense against the Dark Arts _and_ Advanced Transfiguration_. He wandered around the store, with one of the shopping cauldrons and occasionally leafing through books that he thought would be helpful in his magic studies. 

He walked across Cam, staring avidly at the cover of Teen Witch Weekly. He snorted at the dorky looking boys on the cover, which earned him a punch on the shoulder from Cam. 

At around two o'clock Sirius and Sandy walked in, deep in conversation. 

"Honestly, we ain't got a chance of a trial if we don't have some sort of inside source in the Ministry."

"Well, since we're most likely hated and despised in every aspect, having that chance is very unlikely."

"You're just hated 'cause everyone thinks you betrayed your best friend. I'm hated because I 'killed' my husband. _Stupid_ cheating bastard."

"Har-er… Harold…" Sirius called out. "Do you have everything you need?"

Harry and Cam came to the front of the store, carrying their purchases. Harry's cauldron was mainly filled with educational books, while Cam's was filled with magazines and books on how to do hair magically.

Sirius dug through the cauldron, looking at the books that Harry had chosen. 

"Harry," Sirius whispered so no one would hear. "Why don't you go choose a book on Magical Animals. You don't seem to have one."

Harry ran to the back of the store, searching for the section on Magical Creatures. Harry was just going through the bookcases, pulling out books and reading their descriptions. He was kneeling on the floor when the hairs on the back of his neck started to raise. Someone was watching him. Harry started to turn around slowly, but a hand clasped open his mouth to muffle his yell and he was dragged out of the back exit, kicking and screaming. 


	11. Running Again

A.N. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I know, I know, it takes me too long to upload. I, however, have evil teachers who give out evil homework and take up all of my evil typing time. I have been doing my best. And my computer is still on the fritz, not letting me read anything on ff.net, and once again, it's probably by some freak miracle that I uploaded this chapter. Enjoy, and review

Mal

Harry struggled against the strong arms that held him. The mouth clamped harder over his mouth and a hurried, "_shut up_!" was hissed in his ear as he tried to cry out. Harry kicked backwards, into the man's shins. The man gave a grunt of pain and then a yelp as Harry bit down on the hand covering his mouth. The man cursed, putting a strong hand around Harry's neck and starting to squeeze. The eight-year-old sputtered for breath and tried to flail his arms. 

The man moved the choking hand up to the boy's jaw, putting them in a vice-like grip. While Harry took several deep, steadying breaths, the man put a single drop of an unknown liquid into the boy's mouth. The man threw Harry to the ground and the boy sputtered, trying to gulp down more air. However, the potion took effect, and Harry's eyes glazed over as he struggled to breath. 

"What is your name?" snarled the man. 

"Harry James Potter," Harry managed to sputter out. 

"Who are you living with?" 

"My-my godfather, Sirius Black," Harry gasped. At the time he was thinking, '_what are you saying! This could get Sirius put in jail_!' 

Meanwhile, it was getting harder and harder for Harry to breath. He felt as if his lungs were shrinking and expelling all of the oxygen he tried to stick in there.

The man simply laughed as Harry's struggled to breath. "Where do the two of you reside?" 

Harry heard himself choke out an answer. 

The man grinned, reached down, and tousled the boy's hair. 

"Good boy, Harry," said the man. "Sorry about your parents. Nothing I could do about it. Oh, and sorry about this too." 

Harry, still gasping on the ground, looked up to see the tip of a wand pointing straight at him, and the man looming over him. 

"Cam, go get Har-er… whatever his name was."

"_Harold_," Sirius hissed, giving the cashier the books that Harry had decided to buy. "Here's some money, you pay for these books, I'll go see where Harry is." 

Sandy snorted as Sirius handed her a bag of Galleons. 

Sirius walked slowly to the back of the store, where the Care of Magical Creatures books were located. A single book lay, open and upside down on the floor. 

"Harold?" Sirius called, picking up the book and replacing it on the shelf. He turned around, wondering if Harry was playing hide-and-seek with him. 

"All right," Sirius said, giving a grin. "I give up. You can come out now."

There was no answer. Sirius blinked, ran a hand through his short, blond hair and called again. "Harold? Where are you?"

Sirius walked around the bookcases, looking for his godson. "This isn't funny. Come out."

Still silence. 

Sirius started searching desperately for Harry, looking around all of the bookcases. Looking around to see if no one was looking, Sirius transformed into his Animagus form, a giant black dog. Putting his keen nose to the ground, he immediately picked up Harry's scent. He followed it through the bookcases, until it led to a deserted corner…. And a door that was slightly ajar. Sirius transformed back into his blond disguise and pulled out his wand, holding it before him like a sword. He pulled open the door quickly, and found himself in a deserted, slim alleyway in the back of Flourish and Blotts. 

Standing a few feet away was a short, balding wizard, his wand pointed at something on the ground. Even after 7 years, Sirius could still recognize him. 

"Pettigrew," Sirius hissed, momentarily forgetting about himself being on the run, and that he had to find and protect his godson. The only thing that Sirius saw, was Pettigrew. 

The man spun around, and found Sirius lividly glaring at him, with an expression that would have scared the dickens out of Severus Snape. 

Sirius swung his wand upward, but before he could do so, Peter grinned and disappeared with a small _pop_.

Sirius was literally shaking with anger, still holding his wand out in front of him, pointed at the spot that Peter had been standing. Only when he heard panicked gasping, did he look down. 

There was Harry, lying on the ground, clutching his chest and trying desperately to breath. 

Sirius rushed to his side, grabbed him by the shoulders and made him sit up.

"Harry! What's wrong," Sirius asked, looking the boy in the eye.

"Can't… Can't…," Harry managed to choke out. "Help."

"Alright Harry, just concentrate on breathing. In… and out…in…"

"What on earth…" Sirius turned his head and saw Sandy, standing at the open doorway. "Sirius, what on earth-"

"Sandy, quick, Apparate to my house," Sirius said, brushing Harry's hair off of the boy's forehead. "Shrink everything and put it in a box. Keep it with you until I contact you. Go. Now."

"Where are you gonna go-"

"GO! NOW!" Sirius barked, picking Harry up. Sirius didn't wait another second, and Disapparated away from the thin alley. 

~*~

Peter appeared at his flat, and collapsed on the sagging couch, laughing hysterically. He had almost had it! He was _this_ close to having Sirius Black thrown in jail and out of his life! But that stupid man had to show up before he could get rid of the evidence. That damn boy! He wasn't putting up a fight anymore. He was hardly breathing for that matter. It would have been so easy just to dispose of the body and then appear at Black's house with a team of Aurors and have him arrested and thrown into Azkaban without a trial. He was _this_ close! 

Peter still found his predicament amusing. He lay on his couch, laughing and laughing until he was crying. 

"At least I still have the address," Peter said, pulling out a piece of paper, which he had hastily scrawled it on. "I must get there quick. Black will no doubt wish to relocate…"

~*~

Sirius pounded on the front door of an odd looking house on a deserted lane. He was standing on the spindly porch, holding a gasping Harry in his arms. He was back to his normal self, having quickly taking the Disguising charms off of him and Harry. He had put a charm on Harry to keep him conscious, but Harry was growing weak from a shortage of air. Sirius pounded on the front door again, wiping stray hairs out of the boy's face.

Suddenly the door opened, and an old man looked up at Sirius through thick, large glasses. 

"Who are you?" Croaked the man. "You're not selling anything are you? I have enough Bouncing Tea Kettles, you kno-"

"Uncle Carrison, it's me," Sirius gasped, readjusting Harry in his arms. Carrison squinted up at Sirius and readjusted his glasses. 

"Sirius?" The man said. Sirius nodded slowly.

"I know what you're thinking Uncle Carrison, but really I-"

"Is that the Potter boy?" Carrison interrupted, an amused look on his face, looking down at the gasping boy that Sirius clutched. 

"Yes," Sirius said, in too much of a hurry to ask how he knew. "He needs help."

"Obviously. Come on in. I'll put the kettle on."

Sirius rushed past Carrison and set his godson down on the sunken couch that sat in his uncle's living room. The boy wasn't faring any better.

"Sirius…" He desperately choked out. 

"Shh, Harry. Save your air."

"Where…are we?" Harry took a shuddering breath, ignoring his godfather's order. 

"At my uncle's house," was all that Sirius said. As they spoke, Carrison came hobbling into the room, a potion in one hand, and a cane in the other. 

"Seen this before. Through all of my years as a Medi-Wizard, I'd recognize this anywhere."

Carrison dropped his cane and told Harry to open his mouth. Harry, who was growing quite tired, opened his mouth. 

"Pinch his nose and hold him down," Carrison orders, and Sirius rushes to comply. The next thing Harry knows, a burning potion is being forced down his throat. He struggles with all of his might (which isn't much) but Sirius holds him still. A second later all of Harry's strength gives out, and despite the charm that was placed upon him, Harry fell unconscious. 

Sirius sat there for a moment before turning to his uncle. Carrison was sitting in a big, purple easy chair, lightly tapping a rhythm with his foot, and humming. 

"Carrison?" Sirius said softly.

"Yes my boy?" The man replied, a jovial smile on his face. 

"Do you want to know what happened?"

"No."

Sirius stared at his uncle before inquiring why he had made that answer.

"Simple. I don't want to know."

"Well, yes, but why-"

"Tea?" 

"No thank you."

"I expect you want to know what's wrong with the Potter boy?"

"Harry…yes."

"Then I'll go make some tea."

~*~

Sandy conjured up several boxes the second she appeared at Sirius' house. 

"Mom, what's wrong?" Cameron kept asking. Every time Sandy shushed her, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Truth is, she didn't know what had happened. But she had never seen Sirius that scared before.

"Quick Cam, do as many Summoning and shrinking charms as you can," Sandy said hurriedly, thrusting a box into her daughter's arms. 

Her daughter just stared up at her, and slowly started to summon the many objects in the rooms. 

Ten minutes later the house was nearly empty. Cam and Sandy were in the bathroom, finishing up the last box. 

"There," Sandy panted, shrinking the box and dropping it into her purse. "Finished. Come on, let's get out of here." Cam scooped up Wilbur, who had been following them around, squealing happily at the visitors. 

Sandy had just reached for her daughter when they heard the front door opening, and someone walking in. Cameron turned to the bathroom door, then looked up at her mother.

"Harry and Sirius must be home," Cam said. She started towards the living room.

"Cam," Sandy hissed. "Cameron, get back here."

"Why?" Asked Cam, standing in the doorway of the bathroom. A second later a spell shot past her head and she gave a loud shriek, jumping forward into her mother's arms. The two of them Disapparated a second later, right before Peter Pettigrew appeared outside of the bathroom door. 

~*~

Harry blearily opened one of his emerald green eyes, and looked around the blurry room. Sirius must have taken off his glasses. From what he could tell, they were still in the same room, and he was still lying on the scratchy couch, with a scratchy blanket lying over him. 

He could breath, however. He took several deep breaths just to reassure himself that he could. He could hear voices as well, somewhere off to his right. He recognized one of them to be his godfather's. The other one was familiar. 

Harry grunted as he tried to sit up, but he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down. 

"Harry?" Sirius said, his face appearing over his godson. "How do you feel?" 

"Itchy." 

Sirius grinned, at ease that his godson's sense of humor was showing through. 

"Where are we?" Harry asked. 

"At my Uncle Carrison's house," Sirius said. "In Norway." 

"Is he a…"

"Wizard? Yes, he is, but he has been living with Muggles for several years…" 

"Where are Cam and Sandy?"

"I don't know."

"Did that man get them?" 

"Pettigrew? No, I-" Sirius stopped as Harry's eyes got wide and he tried to sit up again.

"Pettigrew! It was him? He was the one that-" 

"Harry, calm down," Sirius said anxiously. "It's all right, he's gone."

"He asked-he asked where we lived. He talked about Mom and Dad! He-he-"

"Calm down boy," said Carrison, who had been sitting in his rocking chair, watching the whole scene. "He doesn't know where we are, and doesn't have a way to find out."

"What about Wilbur?" Harry whimpered. 

"Cam and Sandy are getting all of our stuff…" Sirius said. "They've got him, don't worry about it."

Harry nodded and leaned back into the scratchy pillows. "Where are we going to go now?" 

"I don't know. We might stay with Cam and Sandy for a little while. We might… I don't know."

"How long will we be here?"

"You'll be here for about a week." 

"Just me?" 

"And Carrison," Sirius said. 

"What about you?" Harry asked. 

"I need to go find someplace," Sirius said. "Someplace safe. It won't be for long, Harry." 

Harry stared for a minute, before nodding and looking at the floor. 

"You should go back to sleep Harry," Sirius said, ruffling his godson's hair. "You went through a lot today. You were very brave."

Harry gave a small smile and leaned back into the pillows. 

"Sweet dreams Harry…"

Harry's dreams that night were anything but sweet. He dreamed of Pettigrew, walking through their now empty house, screaming and cursing angrily, before blowing up the whole building. He walked away from the burning rubble, laughing terribly before disappearing with a _pop_. 

It was then that Harry awoke, panting and panicking, thinking that he was unable to breath again. He looked around the room, to the other end of the couch, where Wilbur lay, on side and dozing. There were several boxes around the room, filled with their belongings. Harry looked around for Sirius, but Sirius had gone. 


	12. Carrison and Neville's Prophecy

A.N. I read the 5th book in ten hours. And I bawled! Actually, I kind of ruined the book for myself, and skipped ahead to see who died. And I bawled some more. It was shocking, and I feel so bad for Harry! I'm going to continue with this story, because I luv Sirius, and I think that he and Harry should've had more time together *tear *. Also, I have 2 new ideas for stories, that I have been developing. One is an AU and the other is a 6th year story. 

Anyway, the 5th book gave me a whole bunch more material to add to this story, so here we go! Hope to see them up soon! 

Mal

The next few days with Uncle Carrison were very weird. Carrison was constantly picking up random objects and showing them to Harry, telling him some odd story about it. He had the largest collection of teakettles that Harry had ever seen. He had even more than a French lady that Harry had once had for a neighbor. 

He did, however, help Harry with his magic. Harry had been having trouble with Transfiguring things into electric objects. They usually ended up with a tail instead of an extension chord. Carrison, with flare and excitement, eagerly taught Harry everything he knew about the subject, and then proceeded to turn his teakettles into toasters. 

Carrison was very stubborn about what Harry ate, claiming that after having an allergic reaction like that, Harry had to eat lots of beets and radishes. Harry persuaded him to buy a box of Cheerios. 

Sirius didn't make any contact with Harry for nearly a week. Harry awoke on the couch one morning, Wilbur still asleep at the other end, only to find Sirius' head floating in the fireplace, talking avidly with Carrison. 

"-Going to be staying with Sandy for a little while. At least Harry will be able to play with Cam for a bit. Then we'll have to move someplace we've already been… doubt he'll look there."

"Best hope he doesn't go to the Ministry," Carrison said. "They'll be swarming everywhere."

"Of course he won't. That'll lead to too many questions. Perhaps we'll just return to England. He might not suspect that."

"Sirius?" Harry said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. 

"Harry!" Sirius said, changing his expression from one of worry to one of gladness. "Good to see you up!"

"Are you coming back soon?" Harry asked, scratching Wilbur behind the ear and awaking the pig. 

"Tomorrow. Is that soon enough?"

"Yep!"

"Great! Start packing, tomorrow we'll go to Sandy and Cam's house."

"Yeah!"

"Harry," Carrison said. "Why don't you go get yourself some breakfast. There's some water on the stove for tea."

Harry nodded and left, Wilbur following behind him, begging for food. 

Harry made as much noise as was possible while preparing the meals. He could still hear what the two men were saying, but he didn't want it to make it seem like he was eavesdropping. 

"There have been… reports, Carrison," Sirius said slowly. 

"Reports of what? Budget reports? Chocolate Reports? You're going to have to be more specific, Sirius my boy."

"Reports of odd happenings… You know what I mean."

"…Oh. What sort of happenings." 

"From what I've heard, which has only been gossip, not very credible, that there has been dark wizard activity."

Harry nearly dropped the Cheerio box at that point. Sirius had shared most of what he knew about Dark Wizards to Harry, and had even quizzed him for History of Magic. Harry had just never thought that he would be hearing about them now. He had gotten rid of Voldemort, and he couldn't just come back… could he? Harry stopped making so much noise, and listened intently.

"They're probably just rumors," Carrison replied, his voice wavering slightly. 

"I know… Is Harry alright?" Sirius asked. "I mean, the longest he's been away from me was during a sleep over. Never this long."

"He's fine. The boy is very self efficient." 

"Yeah, I know. You'd be the first person to really say that he isn't."

"Very bright too."

"Yes. I'm surprised he's gotten this far so fast. He only started learning magic when he was 5."

"Very interested in teakettles too." 

Harry snorted lightly. Carrison thought everyone was interested in teakettles. 

Harry picked up his bowl of cereal and walked back out into the living room. Sirius and Carrison instantly changed the subject. 

"Puddlemere is looking great. The team has completely changed since I last saw it."

"Yes, their offensive is really quite spectacular."

"Sirius?" Harry spoke up. "What time are you going to get me."

"Really quite early, around five," Sirius said. "Carrison, you'll wake him in time?"

"Of course I will."

However, Harry was the one to wake up Carrison the next day. The old man grumbled about how dark it was outside and promptly started making tea. Harry had been packed all night, all of his things properly shrunk and in their boxes. Wilbur had been brushed and was wearing his collar. At ten past five, Sirius walked into the house, a broomstick over his shoulder, and a newspaper under his arm. 

"Come on," Sirius said swiftly. "We have a portkey leaving. We're going to Sandy and Cameron's." Harry said a swift goodbye to Carrison, who tried to give him a teakettle, before Sirius and Harry disappeared. 

~*~ 

Albus Dumbledore was waiting patiently in his office, his fingers intertwined and resting on his desk as he stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. He was waiting, waiting for two very special guests. One was an old friend of his, and the other was the possible future savior of the world. 

There was a sharp knock on the door, which instantly opened to reveal two figures standing there. 

"Wanda, how wonderful to see you," Dumbledore said, instantly standing up and gliding over to the elderly witch. Dumbledore looked kindly down at the young boy who was staring nervously up at the headmaster. "And how are you Neville?" 

"Q-quite well," Neville managed to stutter out. 

"Neville, don't stutter," his grandmother snapped. Neville only nodded and lowered his eyes slightly. 

"Neville," Dumbledore said, smiling down at the rounded boy. "Why don't you and Fawkes take a little jaunt around the castle." Dumbledore motioned to the beautiful bird, which was looking questioningly at the new arrivals. Neville looked terrified at the thought, and even more so when the bird took off, flying out the open doors. Mrs. Longbottom dismissed her grandson and then rolled her eyes as Neville tripped on the rug. 

"Clumsy little boy," Mrs. Longbottom said disdainfully, while sitting down in the chair across from Dumbledore's desk. 

"Ah, I remember I was quite clumsy when I was young Neville's age," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "I once knocked over 16 suits of armor while taking a little jaunt around the family manor. They went over just like Dominoes."

Mrs. Longbottom just stared blankly. Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "Now Wanda, I have called you here to tell you some very important information concerning your godson."

Mrs. Longbottom snorted. "I don't know what happened with that boy. Honestly, he only started showing his magic a little while ago. His father started showing his magic when he was three. _Three_! And Neville started when he was eight. _Eight_! I don't know how he'll be able to survive at Hogwarts." 

At that, Mrs. Longbottom eyed Dumbledore questioningly, as though expecting him to say something about the matter. Dumbledore however just held out a jar of candy and offered her some. Mrs. Longbottom sniffed and said, "No thank you." 

"Wanda," Dumbledore said, suddenly growing serious, looking over his half-moon glasses at the woman. "In all seriousness, we must discuss Neville's future." 

"Quite right," Wanda said, conjuring up a cup of tea for herself and sitting rather stiffly in her chair. "Do you think he'll be able to take all of the classes, or will he only be allowed to take the ones that he won't cause catastrophic accidents in?"

"Actually, I wish to talk about Neville's past, as well as his future," Dumbledore said sternly. 

Mrs. Longbottom nodded and took another sip. "About 9 years ago a prophecy was made…"

"Oh yes, I overheard my son and Alice talking about that once…" Mrs. Longbottom said. "Then they stopped talking as they saw me eavesdropping." 

"Yes, quite," Dumbledore said. "I am now going to show you what this prophecy said…"

Dumbledore walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a large basin, which he set on his desk, between the two of them. He pulled out his wand and placed it to his temple, before pulling out what looked like a silver strand of hair and putting it into the large basin, which was already filled with what looked like a mixture of silvery gas and liquid. He then prodded that substance, and a figure rose from it. She was a bespectacled woman, covered and shawls and revolving slowly. Then she began to speak…

A minute later the figure sank back into the basin. Mrs. Longbottom was sitting stiffly with her hand over her mouth. Dumbledore was staring at her over his half moon glasses, his fingers intertwined on his desk again. 

"Wanda-" Dumbledore began. 

"That woman…" Mrs. Longbottom. "She was speaking of the Potter boy-" She looked at Dumbledore, pleading with her eyes. "-Right?" 

"We believed that she was… however, due to young Harry Potter's murder 7 or so years ago, we have reason to rethink the prophecy." 

"You mean-"

"Because the Potter boy is dead, we have reason to believe that Neville is actually the wizard that was spoken of." 

Mrs. Longbottom pursed her lips and glared inquisitively at Dumbledore. 

"So, you believe that my Neville is going to have to fight You-Know-Who, and attempt to defeat him?" 

"Yes."

"_My_ Neville." 

"Yes."

Mrs. Longbottom continued to glare before she took a sip of her tea and sighed. In a slow, warm voice Dumbledore continued, "Neville must grow up as a normal child. He will receive normal schooling until such a time calls for it. I have faith that Neville will be able to summon the strength to get over this obstacle." 

"Are you…. Quite sure that my Neville is who they spoke of in this prophecy?" Mrs. Longbottom asked. "Couldn't it be some other boy?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "It would take a miracle for it to be some other boy."

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Harry Potter was drifting off to sleep in a sleeping bag in Sandy Dungerfeild's living room. 


	13. OWL's and Quirrell

A.N. Howdy all. Alrightythen, I'm glad you liked my last chapter! As for HPDM-AV, I took it down ON PURPOSE, because I really wasn't interested in writing it anymore. Don't worry, I haven't completely deleted it. Anyway, on the 16th of July I will be leaving on a trip to Hawaii, and won't be back until the 5th of August. So don't expect any updates. Besides, most of you have grown accustomed to waiting for me to update. *grins * Please Review!

Mal

__

*** Flashback ****

Remus Lupin sat at his desk, flicking through a few notes he had written down for his incoming class of first years. He brushed back his graying hair, staring intently at his notes on common defensive jinxes, when- 

"Lupin!" There was a sharp bark from somewhere in the room. Remus jumped, papers flying everywhere, and looked around wildly for the owner of the voice. A minute later he spotted Severus Snape's head sitting in the middle of the fire. 

"Jumpy, aren't we Lupin?" Snape said, smirking up at the werewolf. "We're wanted for a faculty meeting. Something about the incoming brats this year." 

"They're called 'students' Severus," Lupin said, smirking back. Snape rolled his eyes and his face disappeared from the flames. 

__

Minutes later all of the professors were situated in the staff room, sitting in the miss-matched chairs and chatting lightly about the new students. 

"I just hope those Weasley twins don't misbehave as much this year…. Honestly, last year was only their second year and they nearly destroyed the Astronomy tower." 

"Yes, well they caused enough mayhem in my class. Honestly, how do you explain to a parent that their student grew horns on their behinds and are no longer able to sit down…"

The room suddenly became silent as Albus Dumbledore swept in, wearing robes of deep purple. The professors looked expectantly up at Dumbledore, who just sat down and smiled merrily at the group, his eyes twinkling. 

"Well Albus, what have you called us here for?" Professor McGonnogal finally asked. 

Still smiling, Dumbledore said, "Why just to see all of your smiling faces. Did you have fun over vacation Minerva?" 

Professor McGonnogal snorted at stared at the table. 

"Headmaster, what is the real reason that you have called us here?" Snape asked, trying to keep his voice calm. 

Dumbledore grew serious and sat down in one of the chairs. "The reason that I have asked you all here is because we have a very important student will be coming to this school. I, however, do not want you to treat him as such. You will treat him as any other of your students. You must teach him discipline. You must teach him control. You must teach him everything he must learn for the trials ahead of him. But you must treat him as any other student." 

"And who would this student be?" Snape drawled, looking quite bored.

"Neville Longbottom." 

"Son of Frank and Alice?" Professor McGonnogal exclaimed. "The poor dears… but… why is Neville Longbottom so special?"

"Neville might be the only person who could defeat Lord Voldemort… permanently." 

__

***** End Flashback *****

It was June, about two weeks before school was let out, and Remus Lupin was staring down at the boy that Albus Dumbledore had spoken about at the meeting before the beginning of the school year. That 11 year-old Gryffindor was now caught in one of the trick staircases, begging several passing students to help him out. 

"Hannah? Can you help me for an-ow! Please don't step on my hand! Could someone please help- ow!" Neville exclaimed as his leg sunk even deeper into the step. Coming up behind Neville Remus grabbed Neville under the arms and hoisted him out of the step. 

Neville squealed as he was unexpectedly lifted from the step, and nearly toppled over as he was set down on the lower step. 

"Are you alright Neville," Remus asked when Neville had turned around. 

"Yes," Neville squeaked. "Yes, quite… thank you Professor Lupin." 

"Don't worry about it," Remus said, smiling. "Just remember to be more careful." 

Neville gave a small laugh. "I'll try Professor."

"Well, best get to class," Lupin said. "Only have a few minutes."

"Yes sir." Neville started up the stairs again, and promptly stepped back into the trick staircase. 

Giving a small sigh, Remus pulled Neville out again and sent him on his way, vaguely wondering if he should follow the young Gryffindor in case he came across any other dangerous staircases. 

Remus thought back to that past staff meeting, and wondered whether or not there had been some mistake. Neville Longbottom tried hard; you could give him that. Perhaps it was growing up around his formidable grandmother, or perhaps it was because he was just naturally clumsy, but the boy left destruction nearly where ever he went. He was almost as bad as the Weasley twins, although he didn't cause devastation on purpose. Possibly the only way that Neville Longbottom could defeat Voldemort, if he were to rise again, would be to try and curse him, miss and hit a chandelier and crush the Dark Lord when the chandelier came crashing down. Oddly enough, Neville had almost caused this to happen during one of the Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. 

Severus could often be heard muttering about 'that incompetent waste of space' after his Gryffindor and Slytherin first year classes, and it was common knowledge that a cauldron almost always exploded when Neville got near it. This boy, defeat You-Know-Who? Dumbledore must believe in miracles…

~*~

Harry was sitting in one of the cold metal chairs, alongside several other young witches and wizards. Unfortunately for him he was the youngest of them all, at only 11 years old. All of the other witches and wizards were 15 or 16. Harry looked as old as all of the others, after taking an Aging Potion just for this occasion. He had also dyed his hair, gotten contacts, and Cam covered up Harry's scar with some of her mother's make-up (much to Harry's disgust). The reason for all of this was so Harry could take his Ordinary Wizarding Level exams. 

That's what Harry was waiting for. He was waiting for his "name" to be called. Of course he was under an alias, as he couldn't very well walk in and say, "Hello, I'm Harry Potter, the boy who's been missing for a decade, and I've decided to take my O.W.L's." They would never let him do that! Also, he was far too young. Eleven year-olds were _never_ allowed to take O.W.L's, even if they had been studying magic since they were five. Even Sirius was amazed that Harry had gotten this far in his magical studies. And for that very reason was why he had risked his own freedom in getting Harry to the Ministry of Magic, so he could take his O.W.L's. The two of them were staying in a Muggle hotel at the time, while the testing commenced, both of them prepared to leave as soon as the exams were over. They had given Carrison's address as a place to send the O.W.L. results. 

Harry gulped and looked around at all of the other students who were waiting for their names to be called. They were in the middle of the Practical tests, and now all of the students were waiting for the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. All of them were nervous. This was the only real time that Harry had been around other student witches and wizards, besides Cam. Most of the students were either re-taking their exams, because they were ill or they were home-schooled and unable to take the exams like the students at the normal wizarding schools. The other students were hastily going over flash cards, and flipping through books in an attempt to get in any last studying. Harry wondered briefly why he hadn't thought to bring any reading material, when-

"Hoffmon, Raffi," An elderly witch called, from the now ajar door. Harry's ears pricked, and he remembered that that was his "name." 

"Coming!" Harry said hoarsely, jumping to his feet and taking out his wand. 

~*~

"_It wasn't so hard to sneak into this blasted school_," thought the young man who was now walking, invisible, down the hallway. It was late in the afternoon; most of the students were on break between classes, and spending their time lounging around outside. 

***_Quirrell, we must get into position_*** 

The young man winced at the sound of that voice, his master's voice, rolling around in his head. Of course, it wasn't much better when his master spoke. He would unconsciously shiver whenever he heard that voice.

"_Yes Master,"_ Quirrell thought, readjusting the hood of the invisibility cloak that covered both him and his turban, which covered his master. He strode down the deserted hallways, faster than ever, until he reached the third floor corridor… 

* **_This is it Quirrell…_*** his Master's voice hissed. ***_This is what we've all been waiting for. What I've been waiting for… Now we have all that we need in order to get to the Sorcerer's Stone… except for a few select clues… but we have enough to get far… but we have all the time we need. Dumbledore is at the Ministry now… far, far away from us…_** * 

Suddenly a girl came shooting around the corner of the hallway, and ran straight into Quirrell. Quirrell fell back, his hood falling off, leaving a disembodied head floating in the middle of the hallway.

"Who are you!" The girl shrieked down at him, while Quirrell struggled to get up. The girl started fumbling around for her wand. "I warn you, I'm Head Girl! I'll-"

There was a flash, and the girl fell to the ground, Stunned. 

"_Shall I modify her memory, Master?"_ Quirrell thought.

* **_No… bring her with us… she might prove to be useful_**. *

~*~

"I think I did really, really good on the Defense Against the Dark Arts exam," Harry said excitedly to Sirius. "At least an Exceeds Expectations." 

"That's wonderful Harry," Sirius said, grinning over at his godson as they walked down the sidewalk. Sirius had just met Harry outside of the Ministry, and they were making their way back to the hotel where they were staying. "How many more exams do you have left?"

"Just my practical exams in Charms, Potions, and Ancient Runes," Harry recited. Sirius was surprised that Harry had actually taken up the Ancient Runes course. Originally it had just been a hobby… 

"Did you walk Wilbur today?" Harry asked, abruptly changing the subject.   
"Yes, don't worry, your pig isn't at home about to explode. But I am never walking him again. I got so many odd looks… and we've been trying not to attract attention."

"I'm sure that after 10 years of looking for you and not finding anything, the Ministry has better things to do."

~*~

"_Enervate_." 

Morgan McClain, 7th year Hufflepuff and Head Girl of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry blearily opened her eyes. She was lying on the cold floor of a large chamber that she had never seen before. Morgan thought back, trying to remember how she had gotten there… She had been running down the hall, late for a meeting with her boyfriend when… that head…

Morgan tried to stand up, but found that she was tied up, painfully tight. She rolled a bit, trying to see some way out. 

There was a mirror in the center of the chamber. There was something written at the top. Morgan squinted to read it: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_. Then she saw the man, who had only once appeared as a head to her. He had a large, purple turban wrapped around his head, and he was leaning very close to the mirror, his nose almost touching the glass.

"I see myself… I have the stone…" The man was muttering. "But how do I _get_ it!?" 

The man was clearly mad. Morgan watched in horror, as a voice answered back, although there was no one in the room but the two of them. 

"The girl…" 

The next thing Morgan knew, she was untied and being hurriedly pulled from the ground and thrust before the mirror. 

"What do you see?" The man spat, his arm painfully tight on her arm. 

"Please-you're hurting me-"

"Shut up and tell me what you see!"

Morgan gave a whimper and looked into the mirror. She saw herself, her hair mussed and a terrified look on her face. Then, she saw her reflection smile, and reach into its pocket. It extracted a blood-red stone, and then promptly put it back in its pocket. At that instant Morgan felt something heavy fall into her own pocket. She gave a little squeal, and grabbed her side, trying to feel what it was. She pulled out the rock, and held it before her. It was instantly snatched away by the turbaned man. 

The man smiled down at her, a cruel, mirthless smile. "Thank you. My Master will be pleased." 

~*~

Severus Snape strode down the hallway, glaring menacingly at any student he recognized as a non-Slytherin, as well as a few of the incompetent Slytherins as well. 

"Severus!" Came a voice from behind him. Severus turned sharply to see Professor Sprout jogging to catch up with him. 

"Severus," She panted. "Have you, by any chance, seen Morgan McClain?" 

Severus vaguely remembered her being the Head Girl, and being rather good at potions. 

"No," Severus said shortly. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"No one has seen her all evening," Sprout continued, wringing her hands. "She was supposed to meet her boyfriend at four o'clock, but she never shown up. No one has seen hide or hair of her."

"Well, do tell me how the search goes."

"Minerva wishes that every staff member helps in the search for her."

Severus cursed under his breath. "Fine! Fine! Let's go search for the silly girl. Probably just had another boy catch her interest and she's off with him right now…"

~*~

Harry and Sirius were in the hotel room. Sirius was scanning over a copy of the Daily Prophet that he had bought while on a risky trip to Diagon Alley while Harry was taking exams. It was filled with the usual blather of the rising price of Dragon Livers, and which member of a famous band was caught with an illegal magic carpet. Harry was sitting on the bed, flicking through channels on the television, something he usually only watched while visiting Cam. 

Harry had switched to a dish cleaning commercial, when-

"Ow!" Harry exclaimed, clapping his head to his forehead. His scar had just given a nasty twinge.

"Is something wrong Harry?" Sirius asked, looking up from his newspaper. 

"No… just a headache." Another pain shot through his scar.

"I'll get you some water. Maybe that will help." While Sirius went into the small kitchen in their hotel room, Harry slumped to the floor, his hand clasped over his scar. 

~*~

Morgan was too scared to scream. She was too scared to do anything. She was tied up again, and had fallen again to the floor. She was staring up at the turbaned man, who had just conjured up a goblet of water. 

"It is almost time Master…" the man whispered. "In mere moments you will have your body. You will have returned."

"Hurry up Quirrell…" said that voice that seemed to come from Quirrell himself. "Do it."

Quirrell took the blood-red stone and put it into the goblet. Then he set the goblet aside, and reached for his turban, beginning to unravel it. Morgan watched in horror as the turban fell away, and Quirrell turned around to pick up the goblet. Only then did she start to scream. 

There was a face- a face in the back of Quirrell's head. It was horrible, undoubtedly the most terrifying thing that she had ever seen. White as snow, with burning red eyes and snakelike nostrils… surely she was going to die from fright. Out of the corner of her mind she saw Quirrell take a long drink from the goblet, and the next thing she knew, the terrible face was right in front of her. 

The face was smirking down at her, now separated from Quirrell's body, and just floating in midair above her. Then, a swirling black fog appeared. It filled the room, covering everything and making it impossible to see. Morgan continued to scream. 

There was a cruel laugh that echoed around the room. The laugh was cold and purely evil. Then the fog lifted, and standing before her was a tall, thin man, with huge hands, like spiders. 

"Hello," the man said. Morgan continued to shriek, tears of fear running down her face as she tried to move. "I am Lord Voldemort. Goodbye." 

Then there was a flash of green light, and Morgan stopped screaming. She was dead. 

~*~

  
"Harry! Harry!" Sirius yelled, shaking his violently twitching godson. Harry was moaning, rolling around and clutching his scar. "Harry snap out of it! Come on Harry!" 

He had never seen Harry like his. Something must have happened, but what? What had caused this episode?  
All of a sudden, Harry sat up, nearly colliding with Sirius's head, still panting hard and clutching his scar.

"Sirius-"

"Are you okay!" 

"Sirius-"

"What's wrong?"

"Sirius... He's back." 


	14. Here we go again

A.N. I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but my schedule is so cramped that I had minimal time to write. Hopefully I'll be able to crank out another chapter over winter break. Sorry for taking so long to update, but honestly, I have no time whatsoever…

Mal

Remus Lupin looked down at the body of Morgan McClain, staring up at him with a horrified look on her young face. He sighed, shrugging off his shabby robe and placing it over her. Dumbledore and several of the other teachers were examining the rest of the room, a chamber with a great mirror in the middle of it, and a spilled water goblet at the base of it. 

Remus turned and looked at the headmaster's solemn face, as he stared into the mirror. 

"Albus?" Minerva McGonnogal whispered. "What are we going to tell Miss McClain's parents?" 

Professor Dumbledore sighed, adjusted his glasses, and replied, "We will tell her the truth; that Lord Voldemort has risen again, and their daughter was his first victim."

Dumbledore turned to look at the girl's covered body. 

"But… how could he come back Albus?" Minerva said, almost pleading. "How? We made sure he wouldn't come back when we took the Sorcerer's Stone and guarded it. How did he…?" 

"Unfortunately, I didn't suspect that Voldemort would know to use an innocent, frightened young lady to get what he wants," Dumbledore said solemnly. "When one is frightened, thoughts can go askew and things can happen that one does not normally wish."

Remus turned to glance at Dumbledore's face. He looked old, older than Remus had ever imagined the exuberant headmaster to be. 

"Remus," Dumbledore said quietly, so the others couldn't overhear. "I need you to alert the Old Crowd, tell them to go to meet in office at noon. Contact Peter first, he can help." 

"Come," Dumbledore said. "We must go alert Miss McClain's parents."

~*~

Sirius was sitting next to Harry's bed, haphazardly brushing back his sleeping godson's hair. The scar stood out plainly against his forehead. Sirius frowned and drew his finger along the line of the scar. 

He remembered seeing Harry on the floor, writhing and clutching his scar, moaning loudly. Then he had said two words, two words that filled Sirius with so much dread. "He's back."

Sirius had questioned Harry about what he had seen, what had happened, but Harry would only say that Voldemort was back, somehow he was back. Harry couldn't go into specifics, and kept clutching his scar. 

Sirius jumped as Harry gave a loud moan in his sleep. He rolled over and clutched his blankets closer around him, giving another loud moan. 

"Harry?" Sirius whispered. Harry whimpered and trembled in his sleep. Sirius shook Harry lightly on his shoulder. "Harry, are you okay?"

Suddenly Harry sat up, looking around wildly, and breathing hard. Wilber, who had been sleeping at the foot of Harry's bed, wasn't disturbed. 

"Sirius?" Harry gasped.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked urgently, while trying to press a glass of water to Harry's lips. 

Harry pushed the glass away, and looked up at his godfather. Harry's face had returned to its normal 11-year old self; the Aging Potion had worn off. 

"I don't know," Harry said. "I just keep… dreaming. They're weird dreams. Red eyes and… snakes…" Harry gave another shudder and wrapped his arms around his knees, resting his chin on them. 

"Harry… maybe you shouldn't finish your exams tomorrow. We can do them another ti-"

"No! Sirius I have to do them now, I might not have another chance!"

Sirius frowned at Harry and said, "Harry, you have lots of times to do your exams again. Don't worry."

Harry seemed to draw into himself even more. "Please Sirius, please can I finish tomorrow?"

Sirius sighed. "We'll see Harry." 

~*~

Remus rifled through his student's assignments on his desk, searching for a scrap piece of parchment. On that piece of parchment held Peter Pettigrew's new address. He had moved after he felt his old flat was "too cramped." Remus would've been happy to have a flat half the size of his friend's old flat if he hadn't been working at Hogwarts. 

Remus finally found the parchment, and walked over to his fireplace. He grabbed some Floo Powder from the mantelpiece and throwing it down, shouted his friend's address. He stepped into the flames, and was instantly transported to his friend's flat. 

The flat was dark. The remains of dinner for two still sitting on the dining room table. Remus raised one eyebrow and looked around the rest of the room. There were melted candles positioned strategically around the room, with a little bit of wax splattered on the walls, as if someone had blown them out in a hurry.

"Peter?" Remus called out loudly. He heard a squeal from somewhere above him. This place had two floors? Sheesh…

"Go away Remus!" Peter shouted, a bit of pleading in his voice. "Come back tomorrow!"

"Peter come down here!"

"Remus, I have… COMPANY." Ah… that explained it. Peter had a girl over. 

"Peter, you'd better get down here or I'm going to come up there and interrupt whatever you're doing!" 

"NO! er-no…I'll be down in a minute." 

Remus smirked and sat down on the couch, waiting for his friend to come down. Moments later Peter tromped down the stairs, hastily tying a bathrobe. 

"What is it that's so urgent that you had to interrupt… us!?"

"Voldemort's back Peter," Remus said softly. Peter froze, his mouth open in a look of mixed horror and surprise.

"Wha-how? How did he come back?!" 

"That's not important now, Dumbledore will explain it later," Remus said, standing up. "There's going to be a meeting at noon in Dumbledore's office. I-I have to go alert the rest of the old crowd… I'll see you then."

Remus turned to make for the fireplace. Peter sat down on the couch and whimpered, "How can he be back Remus?" 

Remus turned and looked at his friend, who was rubbing his right hand up and down his left arm. 

"I don't know Peter, I don't know." 

~*~

Harry finished his tests the next day. As soon as they were over Sirius and Harry left, trying to get as far away from London as they could. Sirius didn't know how quickly the news about Voldemort would spread, but if they found him in London it would certainly be a disaster. They went to Sandy and Cameron's house. 

Cameron was out on the front lawn, doing summersaults and handstands on the grass, while wearing a ridiculously poofy blue wig. Sandy was sitting in a lawn chair reading a magazine, trying to block out her daughter. 

"Cameron!" Harry yelled. Cameron toppled over, in mid-handstand, and Sandy looked up from her magazine. 

"Harry? Sirius?" Sandy said, throwing her magazine to the side. "What on earth are you doing here?" 

"Not here," Sirius said, looking around nervously. "Inside."

Minutes later they were both inside of the cool house. 

~*~

Peter Pettigrew paced back and forth in front of his fireplace. His best friend, one of his _only_ friends, had just left after leaving him the distressing news about the Dark Lord. He was back. 

Pettigrew lifted up the left sleeve of his bathrobe, staring at his arm. The Mark that had been absent for ten long years was standing out against his pale skin, an angry red skull and snake. Right before his eyes Pettigrew saw the color change to a burnt black, and a searing pain shot up his arm. Moaning, Pettigrew pulled his sleeve down. 

"Sweetie?"

Pettigrew spun around, staring at his new girlfriend, who had one of his towels wrapped around her. 

"Sweetie, what's the matter?"

"Um, Ursula… Something just came up. I-I have to go to work."

"Oh no…"

"I know honey, but we'll see each other again soon. I'll contact you as soon as things calm down at work." Pettigrew walked over to where the woman stood. He gave her a peck on the lips and hurriedly went upstairs to get dressed.

~*~

Sandy and Sirius were sitting at the kitchen table. Harry was dozing on the couch, with Cam sitting on his legs and watching a cartoon on TV. 

"So… that's it. He's back and there's nothing we can do about it because we're in hiding," Sandy said bitterly. "This is bullshit. We shouldn't be here. We should be back in our own world-"

"I know, I know," Sirius said, raking a hand through his hair. "When Dumbledore learns of Voldemort's-" Sandy winced at the sound of his name. "- Return, he'll be reassembling the Order of the Phoenix-"

"-The who-what now?" Sandy interrupted. 

"It's a group created to fight the Dark Lord… we had one back when Voldemort was strong, before Harry put an end to him for a while… I used to be a member…" Sirius laughed bitterly. "… Doubtful I'll be allowed back in."  
Sandy snorted. "Ah well… Don't worry about that now. You have to take care of Harry, you're all he has left."

Thousands of miles away, a Death Eater meeting was beginning…


	15. Order and Disorder

A.N. Howdy everyone. Well, school's out, and that means no more homework!!!! Well, unless you count the summer AP work, but that's beside the point. I now have time to actually WORK on this story! I know that some of you thought that I had dumped it, but no! I didn't. So here's the next chapter! Enjoy! Oh, and I know that the times are a little screwy here, but I'm working in 2 or more time zones, so live with it.   
  
Mal  
  
P.S. I'm sorry if the formatting is screwy. I'm on a new computer, and I don't know what it will do next!  
  
"Stupefy!"  
  
"Expelliarmus!"   
  
"Crucio!"  
  
Remus Lupin watched as one of his comrades fell to the ground, screaming in agony. He raised his wand at the Death Eater, shouting the first curse that came to his mind.  
  
"Stupefy!" The Death Eater crumbled to the ground, and Remus rushed forward to curse the three that replaced him.  
  
There were people screaming all around; perplexed Muggles were running about, unsure of what to do, just trying to get out of the line of fire.   
  
"Remus! Alastor!" Bellowed Arthur Weasley. "Dumbledore's calling a retreat. We have to leave!"  
  
"Leave?!" Moody shouted back, simultaneously fighting off a new stream of Death Eaters. "It's just getting interesting!"  
  
"We're outnumbered six to one! The Muggles have all left. There's nothing left for us to fight for here! Disapparate, quick!"   
  
Remus Stunned one last Death Eater before disappearing with a small pop.   
  
Remus Lupin collapsed in a chair that sat around a huge table in the Room of Requirement. The other Order of the Phoenix members were all assembling around the table as well. There were noticeable gaps where the injured and dead were missing. There had been a mad rush to find a suitable place to hold the Order of the Phoenix meetings; Dumbledore had been alternating them between the Room of Requirement and his own office. Neither was totally secure however. When school was still in session, one of their meetings had been interrupted by a neon orange student who had been hexed by a classmate.   
  
Arthur Weasley sat down next to Remus, wiping his glasses on his shirt. Dumbledore went to the head of the table. His robes were impeccably clean, unlike the rest of the members'; they looked rather singed and battered for the most part.   
  
Dumbledore had just opened his mouth to speak when the door burst open again, and Peter Pettigrew stumbled in.   
  
"Sorry!" He said, panting. "Didn't hear anyone call a retreat. Took me a few minutes to notice everyone was gone…"  
  
"That's quite alright Peter," Dumbledore said, a small smile on his face. "Have a seat."  
  
Peter sat down on Remus' other side.   
  
"Did I miss anything?"  
  
Sirius and Harry walked into their new house. They were in Alaska now, practically as far as they could get from England. It was sunny and warm outside, there was green grass everywhere, and Harry had already complained that he hadn't seen any polar bears or penguins. There were, however, mosquitoes.   
  
"Ouch!" Harry said, as Sirius squished a mosquito that had been on his arm.   
  
"Sorry, we'll have to be sure to wear bug repellent whenever we go outside," Sirius said, setting down another box of their belongings. "Go put this in your room."  
  
Harry picked up the box and walked down the hall. The house was small, but it would have to do. Wilbur followed him down the hall, occasionally oinking and bumping into him. Harry dumped the box on the ground.   
  
"Sirius! I'm taking Wilbur for a walk!" He shouted, summoning Wilbur's leash.   
  
"Put on some bug repellent!" Sirius yelled back. "Don't go too far, and be back soon!"   
  
Harry and Wilbur strolled down the sidewalk, wondering when Sirius had gotten so paranoid. As Harry and Wilbur walked, Harry noticed that several Muggles turned in their direction, watching them as they went. For a fleeting second Harry wondered if they knew him, but then realized that they had probably never seen anyone walk a pig before.   
  
He swatted another mosquito off of his pet and continued down the sidewalk.   
  
Arthur Weasley appeared with a pop inside of his kitchen. The room was dark, but he could faintly see a sliver of light coming out from under the door. He walked forward and pushed it open gently. Three redheads were sitting in the living room. His son Percy was sitting at the coffee table, his homework spread out before him. Ronald was reading one of his comics, sitting upside down in one of the mismatched chairs that adorned the room; and his daughter, his youngest, Ginny, was sitting up, reading the newspaper.   
  
"What are you still doing up?" He asked, taking off his cloak and hanging it on one of the hooks.   
  
"Well," Percy started. "I was trying to do my holiday work, but the twins, you know. They're absolutely chaotic and I just can't get any work with them banging around, trying to light things on fire. I mean, honestly-"  
  
"Shut up Perce," Ron yawned. "Gin and I couldn't sleep. So we came down here."  
  
"Is your mother still up?" Arthur asked.   
  
"I don't know."  
  
Arthur ventured up the winding stairs and into the room his wife and he shared. Molly Weasley was slumped in one of the chairs, a pair of knitting needles on her lap and a roll of yarn that had rolled onto the floor. Arthur gently shook his wife's shoulder, and watched as her eyes fluttered open.   
  
"Oh, Arthur!" She cried, flinging her arms around him. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, yes, of course, Molly dear," He replied, giving his wife a swift peck on the cheek and pulling out of the hug. "No one was seriously hurt, don't worry."  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't go Arthur," Molly said. "But the boys and Ginny, you know. I don't trust Fred and George alone here, they don't listen to Percy."  
  
"I understand, Molly," Arthur said. "Speaking of which, Percy, Ron, and Ginny are all downstairs. Ron and Ginny couldn't sleep and-"  
  
There was a small rumbling above their heads, which was followed by the gleeful laughs of the two Weasley twins.   
  
"I swear," Molly grumbled. "Those two are never going to get anywhere in their lives if they keep acting this way."  
  
"Well, maybe Percy will rub off on them," Arthur said with a small smile.   
  
"Well, I'd better go see if the children want anything, and then I'm sending them straight to bed. Arthur, I've saved some dinner for you, if you're hungry."  
  
"Thank you, Molly dear."  
  
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! YOU GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE THIS INSTANCE!" Sirius yelled out of the backdoor. "IT'S TIME FOR DINNER AND IF YOU'RE NOT HERE IN THREE SECONDS THAT PIG OF YOURS IS GOING TO BECOME IT! GET IN HERE NOW!"  
  
Sirius was greeted with the buzzing of several mosquitoes, as well as the bite of one. Cursing, Sirius went back inside, put on his shoes and went searching for his godson.   
  
Why can't the boy just stay in one spot, especially now, Sirius thought. He was infuriated with the boy, especially since he told him not to be out too long, and he felt a twang of worry deep in his chest. Harry was usually good when it came to being on time…  
  
"Harry?" Sirius called. "Harry?" Where are you?"  
  
There was no answer.   
  
Sirius turned a corner and kept looking for Harry.   
  
"Harry? HARRY!?"  
  
"Sirius?" came Harry's voice. "Sirius?"  
  
"Harry!" Sirius cried, starting to jog. "Where are you?"  
  
"Over here!"  
  
Sirius looked into a little park that he was coming up to. Harry was standing at the base of one of the trees, waving at Harry. Sirius jogged over and grabbed his arm.   
  
"Do you have any idea how worried I was? Where have you been?! Dinner was ready and you've been gone for nearly an hour!"  
  
"It's Wilbur!" Harry said. "We were walking and this dog came over and started to bark at us. Then it started to charge us, and it's owner came running out, and you keep telling me that I can't do magic in front of others unless you tell me it's okay, but Wilbur got really scared and the next thing I knew, Wilbur was in the tree!"  
  
Harry pointed up and sure enough, the pig was perched upon one of the branches, squealing and making a fuss, trying to stay at a safe spot where he wouldn't wobble on his little hooves. His collar and leash were dangling down from the branches.  
  
"Why haven't you gotten him down by now?" Sirius asked, noticing that no dog was around.   
  
"People keep walking by, so I can't cast a spell."  
  
Sirius sighed deeply and hoisted himself up one of the lower branches. He continued to climb until he was just below the pig's branch. The pig squealed and tried to wiggle away from Sirius as he reached for the pig. Sirius took out his wand and muttered a small Accio, and the pig started to scream as it zoomed into his arms.   
  
Sirius began to climb back down the tree, the wriggling pig squealing and kicking.   
  
"Sirius! Be careful!" Harry called out, but too late. Wilbur wriggled right out of Sirius's grasp.   
  
"Wilbur!" Harry yelled as he saw the pig fall from Sirius' hold.   
  
Two hours later Harry, Sirius, and Wilbur emerged from the veterinarian's office. Wilbur had a cast on his leg, several stitches on his other leg and a large plastic guard around his head to keep him from licking anything. Sirius was grumbling something about pork-roast, and Wilbur was grunting grumpily, shaking his head and trying to dislodge the monstrosity around his neck.   
  
"Now the dinner will be cold, and do you know how much that vet bill is? Do you? That means that I'm going to have to somehow get a transfer from Gringotts and you know that they're probably going to be watching my account because of the recent return."   
  
"I'm sorry Sirius," Harry said quietly.   
  
"Yeah, yeah, just… try and control your emotions. We don't need anymore pigs falling out of trees. Did you see the look that the vet gave me when I told him how he broke his leg? Thought I was mental, he did."   
  
"I'm sorry Sirius," Harry repeated.   
  
Sirius sighed, "Come on Harry, let's go home."  
  
Hermione Granger brushed her hair out of her eyes when she stopped to turn the page of the Daily Prophet. It was breakfast time, and before she left Hogwarts she had decided to subscribe to the newspaper, especially since the recent return of You-Know-Who. Hermione had already researched the Dark Lord in all of the books she could find in the school library, but most of them hadn't been all that helpful. Most of them just focused on the larger raids, and then later his defeat by Harry Potter, and then the baby's subsequent murder by his Death Eater godfather, who was still on the loose. Hermione was left with many questions, and the answers were probably lying in the Restricted Section of the library.   
  
"Hermione, dear," Hermione's mother said. "Please don't read that at the table. It's breakfast, and I'm afraid you're about to topple your glass of orange juice."   
  
The Daily Prophet was intruding on the table, so Hermione folded it and put it under her chair.   
  
"Hermione," said Mr. Granger. "Will you be working on your summer work today?"  
  
"I already finished it, Dad," Hermione said.   
  
"That's my girl," Mr. Granger said, reaching over and ruffling her hair. "Well, what are you going to do today?"  
  
Hermione thought for a moment. She didn't have any friends that lived in the immediate area… then again, she didn't really have any friends. Being a bookworm didn't exactly lead to being the most popular girl in the school. The other Hogwarts students had generally avoided her, and she didn't really mind too much.   
  
"I think I'll take a walk," Hermione said. "Maybe go down to the park and read a little."  
  
"Sounds good, sweetie," Hermione's mother said. "Just remember to be back before noon. We're going to go look at that new house."  
  
Ah yes, the new house. Hermione didn't want to move, but her parents wanted a house that was bigger and closer to their dental office. They were thinking of moving into a little subdivision closer to downtown, which meant more traffic and less peace and quiet. Hermione was loathing the move.   
  
"I'm going to go get dressed," Hermione said, standing up, and then reaching for the Daily Prophet. She made her escape, fell onto her bed and opened the newspaper.   
  
ATTACK ON MUGGLE VILLAGE- DEATH EATERS ESCAPE  
  
Hermione sighed and started to read.   
  
Harry closed the back door behind him as he let Wilbur out for one last bathroom break in the backyard before they were to go to bed. It was still light out, even though it was nearly ten o'clock. Harry didn't understand how he was going to get to sleep when it was so bright. Wilbur hobbled back over to Harry after he did his business and his anti-lick collar jolted bumped against his leg. Harry noticed how the mosquitoes were queuing around the poor pig, and he bent down to swat them away. As he stood up he noticed something staring at him in the tall grass behind their house. While he watched, the little rat turned and scuttled away, before fully transforming into a man and disappearing completely. 


	16. Fires and Fleeing

A.N. Howdy! I'm glad that you were happy that I updated and since it is summer I'm going to try and do it more often. I honestly don't know what's up with my formatting, but I'm working on it!!!  
Also, for one scene, I don't know if my depiction of what would happen is accurate, and I'm very sorry if it isn't.  
For the reviewer who questioned my knowledge of mosquitoes by saying that mosquitoes do not live in Alaska because it is too far up north, I would like to say this little tidbit: I live in Alaska. The mosquitoes are hell here, in fact, they are nicknamed "the Alaskan State Bird" (yes, we are aware that they aren't actual birds).  
Anyhoo, enjoy this new chapter!  
Mal P.S. I will be on vacation for the next three weeks, so don't expect an update soon!  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
Peter knew that Sirius wouldn't be asleep yet. The little brat was still up and about with that pig. Besides, Sirius always did stay up late back at Hogwarts. Sirius and James would always be running around in the middle of the night, or just sitting in the dormitory talking and keeping the rest of them up. Peter adjusted the Invisibility cloak he had borrowed under the ruse of spying on some questionable Ministry of Magic employees.  
Peter ran into some woods and sat down on a log to think about what his next action would be. He turned his wand over and over in his hand, plotting what to do. He couldn't just waltz into the house; Sirius would have warded the place. That counted out a simple murder. Peter rubbed his eyes and thought hard. He had to kill them. If he didn't, and the Dark Lord found out that Potter wasn't really dead... well... it wouldn't be good. He had been following them with great difficulty for the past few months, trying to find the opportune time to strike. Was tonight it?  
Peter sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair and waited.  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
Remus ran a hand through his graying hair and waited. He was one of the first who arrived at the meeting for the Order of the Phoenix that day, except for Albus Dumbledore of course, who was sitting at the head of the table, twiddling his thumbs and humming merrily.  
How can he seem so cheerful? Remus thought. We're in a war... Remus didn't dwell on this for too long, for other members of the Order started to arrive. Arthur and Molly Weasley came into the Room of Requirement, talking about something that their twins had done. Remus smiled ruefully, remembering the twins' antics at school. Remus was one of the teachers that they didn't give too much grief.  
All of a sudden the Room of Requirement shifted, and all of the occupants found themselves sitting on a beach, dressed in Hawaiian shirts and holding drinks with colorful umbrellas sticking out of them. Sturgis Podmore was standing in the doorway, dressed in a bathing suit and wearing ridiculously large sunglasses.  
"Sorry," he said gruffly. "I was just thinking that I needed a vacation when I was coming in."  
  
"That's quite alright," Dumbledore said jovially. "I think it would be quite nice to hold the meeting with this environment." He took a sip of his drink.  
The door opened again and Severus Snape strode into the room. His dark robes were instantly changed into garish Bermuda shorts and an equally awful shirt.  
"Evening Severus," Albus said. "Pull up a chair. Or towel."  
"Headmaster," Snape growled. "If you insist on running the meeting like this, I'm afraid that I won't be attending."  
"Oh come now Severus, sit down and have a drink. They're quite good."  
Muttering something under his breath, Snape sat down on one of the lawn chairs, transfigured his clothes back into his robes, and glared around the room at the people who were enjoying the change of scenery.  
After a few more minutes of people arriving Dumbledore announced that the meeting was going to start.  
"What about Peter?" Remus asked. "Is he going to be attending this meeting?"  
"As far as I know," Dumbledore replied. "Why don't you contact him and ask."  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
Damn, Peter thought as he felt the familiar tickle of the Order's messaging service. He had been one who helped plan it, modeling it after the Marauder's Map that they had worked on. He pulled a small slip of paper out of his pocket and looked down at the words that were written there.  
PETER, ARE YOU COMING TO THE MEETING? Peter cursed again. He had forgotten about the meeting. He had to act now, or else not act at all. Peter emerged from the forest, still wearing the cloak, and approached the house. He could see that the lights were off on the inside. Without hesitating, he whispered a spell, and a jet of blue fire shot from his wand, landing in some of the dried grass that sat around the house. It instantly ignited, and quickly spread.  
Next he took a marble out of his pocket and whispered Portus. He was gone.  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
Sirius woke to Wilbur's squealing. "That damn pig," Sirius grumbled, "Can't even get through the night without causing trouble." And then Sirius smelled the smoke.  
"HARRY!" Sirius bellowed, jumping out of bed and grabbing his wand off of the nightstand. He ran down the hall, only to find a wall of fire blocking him. A large douse of water from his wand put it out, and Siruis sprinted up the stairs and into a cloud of smoke. Coughing, Sirius tried to find his way down the hall, using the wall for guidance.  
"HARRY!" Sirius shouted again, finishing with a round of coughing. He stumbled into Harry's room, only to be met with more smoke. Sirius got on his hands and knees, and crawled over to where Harry's bed was. Harry's arm was flopped over the side of the bed, and Sirius pulled him out of it. Sirius grabbed Harry's wand off of the nightstand and started back towards the exit. Harry was motionless.  
As Sirius stumbled downstairs, feeling dizzier and dizzier, he could hear sirens in the background. And then he passed out.  
  
............................................................................................................  
  
"Sir? Sir are you awake?" Sirius opened one eye a crack. He had something over his nose and mouth, apparently helping him to breathe. A muggle woman was staring down at him. He was in some sort of vehicle.  
"Oh good, you're awake," she said, making a note of something on a pad of paper. Sirius reached up with a trembling hand and pulled the mask up.  
  
"Where's Harry?" He whispered.  
"The boy? He's in another ambulance, on his way to the hospital, to get some more intensive care. He inhaled a lot of smoke."  
"I need to go see him," Sirius started to sit up, pulling the mask off all the way. "No, you need to rest. We're going to transport you to the hospital shortly, but we need to ask you some questions."  
Not listening, Sirius shakily stood up and asked, "Where are the wands?"  
"The... the what?"  
"The wands! I need them."  
"Sir, you're delirious. We found you with some sticks in your hands, but-"  
"Yes, those, I need them."  
"Sir, you need to lie back down."  
"Can I just see the wa-the sticks, please?" She handed him the wands, and he pocketed them.  
"Can you, by any chance, tell me what happened to the pig that also was there?"  
"He was left at a neighbor's house. We have their number written down- "  
"Thank you," Sirius said shortly. Then he disappeared.  
  
...........................................................................................................  
  
Two days later Sirius stood outside of Sandy and Cameron's house in Florida. Harry was back at the motel where they were staying. He had still been barely conscious when Sirius had kidnapped him from the hospital. One thing was for sure, they were never returning to Alaska, especially since he had Disapparated in front of Muggles.  
Sirius pounded furiously on the door. Where the hell are they? Their car is in the driveway!  
"Uh, son?" Sirius whipped around, looking for who had spoken. There was an elderly man watering the lawn of the neighboring house.  
"Yes?"  
"Are you looking for Sandy and Cam?"  
"Yes, yes I am. Where are they?"  
"Why they left on vacation just three days ago! Won't be back for another two weeks."  
Sirius cursed under his breath, thanked the man, and walked off down the street to find a place to Disapparate.  
  
...........................................................................................................  
  
"Sirius, when am I going to learn how to Apparate?"  
"Harry, I think that we should worry more about getting you new clothes, getting you new books and school supplies, and on top of all that, finding a new house that's safe enough."  
"...How about next week?"  
"No." Harry sighed from his spot on one of the twin beds in the room. He had been told to stay in bed all day. Wilbur had been quite pleased with this notion and slept at Harry's feet, but Harry was quite bored.  
"Are there any Cheerios here?"  
"I'll see if I can go get some," Sirius said. He hesitated before asking the next question. "... Harry? What do you think about going to stay with your relatives for a little while?"  
"What relatives?"  
"Lily's- your mum's sister and her husband. I think they have a son too. They live in England." Harry looked up at his godfather with tired eyes, and then turned and stared out the window.  
"Harry, it would only be for a little while. A little longer than your stay with Carrison."  
"Can't I go stay with Carrison?"  
"Carrison's getting old and doesn't need a young boy like you to take care of. Harry, it would only be until I find us a new, safe house and transfer some more money out of Gringotts."  
  
Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "If that's what you want." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair. "Afterwards I'll teach you how to Apparate."  
Harry gave a small grin. "Promise? "I promise." .......................................................................................................  
  
Three days after the conversation in the motel, Harry, Sirius and Wilbur found themselves standing in front of a perfectly normal house in the suburbs in England.  
"Well, here we are," Sirius said, looking down at his little slip of paper. "Number four, Privet Drive."  
Harry sighed and gave Wilbur's leash a tug as they started up the walk. Sirius rang the doorbell, and a female voice was heard inside, calling, "I'll get it!" An instant later a girl that was no older than Harry opened the door.  
"Hello, can I help you?" She said.  
"Er... yes. Do the Dursleys live here?" Sirius asked, looking at his paper again.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. They moved a week ago. We're the new owners."  
"Oh." Sirius said dully. "Great. Well, did they leave a forwarding address or anything?"  
  
"Um... no, I don't think so."  
"Oh, well, thanks. By the way, what's your surname, in case we need to contact you?"  
"Granger. I'm Hermione Granger." 


End file.
